Stories

Cherie Gruenfeld, founder of “Exceeding Expectations,” was the speaker on March 7th.

Cherie has quite a background. She is one of the most decorated Master’s triathletes in the world today. She has competed in 28 Iron Man races, including the World Championship in Hawaii – 21 times! She has won the world's title in her age group 13 times, and she is the first female over 55 to break the 12-hour mark in an Ironman – which she did in Hawaii, considered the toughest course in the world. Cherie’s photo has been on a Wheaties box!

Along the way, Cherie developed a passion for helping with at-risk kids, and she founded “Exceeding Expectations,” a group of volunteers that works to help kids become the best they can. Currently, there are about 60 kids in the program which focuses not only on athletics, but has a heavy emphasis on school. The idea is to build character, knowledge and goals – and to achieve them all. The organization takes full responsibility of the financial aspects of taking a kid all the way through college – and covers the cost.

QUITE A CONCEPT – a full time coach with financial resources designed to make a kid successful in life.

The group is staffed completely by volunteers – almost 100% of every dollar donated goes to help the kids. Amazing group, led by an amazing woman!

Trevor Richardson says he was looking for a special project to do for school – at first he looked into bomb making, but with further study of the necessary approvals, he decided raising trout from roe to fry, and then releasing them into our lake would be a lot of fun, and he would learn a lot to.

Trevor went over the process for the project, including winning the support of the Arrowhead Lake Association – who is helping to fund the project. Trevor had to seek a number of approvals, and organize the equipment and procedure. He is pretty much set to go, and looking forward to receiving the fish the third week of March. Sounds like a GREAT project – and a lot of fun for Trevor and is class.

If you would like to help, you can donate to the ALA fish stocking fund – and put “Trout in the Classroom" on the memo line of your check.

Marc Ouellet presented today – what he has discovered about posture and how it relates to pain.

Marc recommends we consider a “plumb line” that starts at your head, and goes straight through to your heel. If there is a tendency to hunch forward, you are carrying more weight on the spine than necessary, and it can lead to problems.

Over the course of our lives, we have had an injury or two. Often what happens is that our bodies compensate for the injury for the period that is necessary for healing. What may happen is that the muscle memory creates a semi-permanent change in posture which can lead to other problems. Look closely in the mirror – you may notice an elevate shoulder or a rotated hip. Notice your balance points in the feet – should be equally distributed.

Marc reports that often pain is centered in the hips, and he recommends taking the time to think about posture, and how to “straighten up.” One resource: Google “EGOSCUE” – lots of suggestions!

Dan started off with a quick report on our forest – it’s in transition, as it always is. The beetle problems still exist – Dan says they have been here for centuries. The best thing to battle bugs is a healthy forest.

Dan says one of our problems is that we have spent the last 100 years putting out fires and trying hard to maintain the forest in a too efficient manner. Nature trims the forest back with fire and other ways. Ideal is 40 to 70 trees per acre, a lot of our forest has as much as 900 trees per acre. It wouldn’t hurt to trim back a bit, to ease some of the over-population.

Dan gave us a bit on how trees work – the live part of the tree is near the bark – the middle is dead. Quite a surprise! As it turns out, we have lots of trees that look great, but have serious rot in the middle.

One last recommendation – don’t rake the ground to the dirt! All that mulch and moss is what’s feeding your trees!

John gave us a quick review of what’s up at the Tudor House. It’s a one-thing-at-a-time re-development project, but since the closing of the theater company in Big Bear, it is the only dinner theater on the mountain. John is working on a casino in the basement, and a brew pub on the site.

John also had a quick word regarding the Chamber of Commerce – they have gotten some of the bed-tax funding back, and are looking into doing more advertising in LA and Orange County. Sounds like things are looking up!

Geoff Hopper presented today’s program. With all of the claims of sexual harassment lately, Geoff thought it might be interesting to discuss the problem, the way the problems are handled in the legal system, and how to stay out of trouble.

One item that struck home – Geoff pointed out that litigation isn’t so much a method of problem resolution as it is simply a business – and a very expensive one for the litigants. Harassment cases tend to be very long and costly, and very emotional.

Our goal should be to do whatever is necessary to avoid a hostile work environment – Geoff uses the “Blue Haired Lady” test – other words, imagine your grandma is standing next to you – what would she think about the dirty joke? If she wouldn’t like it, avoid it in the first place.

Other than that – you could move out of California to a less litigious state, or just stay home with the drapes closed.

Kathy Meyers spoke today about the ROP program through the Boys and Girls Club.

She gave us an overview of the program which provides a safe place for kids after school. They are working on a summer program, and could use help with funding. They currently are offering an 11 hour program every day.

Marcy Vega picked up where Kathy left off on the ROP program

They started the program with a 5 year grant – which was spent. Fortunately, parents at the time were able to pick up the financial slack.

They started with 2 members, and are now up to 50 with 4 staff people.

They offer an academic literacy program.

The Summer program is much needed.

Everything now is donor time and donor money supported.

Thanks to the Rotary for the previous support, they are targeting $14,000 for the summer program, and have $5,000 so far. Any help we can offer is appreciated!

Stephanie Phillips, ROP/CTE (Regional Occupational Program/Career Technical Education) Administrator gave us an update on her program at the high school.

She relayed a few stories about students. One young man started in auto mechanics, went to work for Ford Motor Company and ended up with Thermal Racing. The program is works with the Community College system, and has turned into a very successful Jobs program.

The Pathway Program has programs in Health, Building, Engineering, and Production and Media Art.

They are working on taking the program to the elementary school, and are constantly recruiting students.

District Governor Manzoor Massey was presenter of today’s special program.

Manzoor asked for our youngest member – Adam – to be his assistant in his magic act: Manzoor had Adam pull a blue scarf (from the Golden Temple in India) out of a bag. He asked Adam to put is back – he shook the bag, and Adam reached back in and pulled out a rainbow scarf!

Pretty amazing for a governor.

Manzoor gave us a passionate presentation: “The World is falling apart! Thank heaven that Rotary is there! We are ‘transforming lives around the world. 2.5 billion people vaccinated last year, water and food for people in need.”

On the life of Rotary, and a couple of items from the 4-Way Test:

If only everyone could be truthful always!

We should always work to build better friendships!

The Power of One:

“Each of us has unlimited power to change the world. Think about Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Nelson Mandella, Abe Lincoln – and Jesus.”

“Our world needs Rotary more than the desert needs the rain. REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEBODY:

Manzoor had a few people to recognize with the gift of a signed copy of his book “Mind Realignment for EXCELLENCE” :

Jamie Zinn – with a special medallion

Ron Peavy as Assistant Governor

Tony Crowder as the person that sets up our weekly meeting.

Ken McKay as our Fearless Leader

Geoff Hopper because he’s a lawyer and so was Paul Harris (also because of his service and dedication)

The Secretary had to leave early – so the synopsis is provided by Michelle:

“What the Heck Is Grant Writing” provided an overview of philanthropy and the breakdown of the $390 billion dollars that were raised in 2016 (by individuals, private foundations, bequests and corporations). The majority of funds went to religion, followed by education and various health and human services. She talked briefly about the grant process (researching funders, writing proposals) and the special challenges that nonprofits in the Inland Empire face. The per capita giving from private foundations is $3 as compared to $3,113 in Los Angeles County. There are only 103 private foundations in the IE, as opposed to 1,752 in Los Angeles County. Yet, the area has some of the highest needs in terms of poverty and lack of social services with numerous d under-resourced nonprofits (67% have revenues under $25,000). It makes it especially challenging in an already highly competitive arena.

Michelle has operated a private grant consulting business (FUNDamental Concepts) for 25 years, and has another 15 years in non-profit management. She is one of 22 Grant Professionals Certified in CA by the Grants Professional Association and has represented a wide variety of nonprofits and public agencies, raising over $330 million on behalf of clients.

Paul discussed the program – we have our local contest, which leads to a District-wide program. Our local program involves all of the mountain clubs. Paul spent a few minutes recounting our previous programs, and reviewed the flyers he has prepared for both the community and the participants.

THEN, Paul introduced Josiah Tey – one of the contestants. Josiah has won 3 years in a row – and was nice enough to perform for our group!

Josiah had a couple of comments – highlighted by thanks to our group for hosting the program.

Ken is excited to have Kimberly Marcelletta join our group! Kimberly has been Ken’s payroll accountant for a long time, and he was happy when Jamie offered to sponsor Kimberly

Initiation Master Geoff Hopper seemed to be a little taken aback by Kimberly’s typed, single-spaced resume. As such the worst he was able to turn up was an unfortunate incident regarding a car spinning on the ice and a whopper from burger king.

Eric has been with the department for 17 years, 6 years at the County Jail, 11 years on patrol – and has been stationed in Twin Peaks for the last 6 months.

When asked what makes a Deputy Sheriff, Eric makes a few points – first on the list is the desire to help people. The job is to provide help to people often when they are at their worst possible moments. Eric described the academy experience, and the idea that the department likes to hire people with some life experience. He says the academy is a real test of your limits – and takes 6 months.

Working at the jail is quite an experience – learning to speak to street-wise bad-guys is key!

Sums up:

Helping

Worst: learning how to leave the office at the office.

Best: being able to restore a person’s property, pass on knowledge.

Eric says that our community is thankfully low on the violent crime list, but drugs are a problem that brings theft and property crimes.

Of course, President Ken offered an invitation to Eric to join our group!

Terri Pena, COO and Chief of Nursing Services of Mountains Community Hospital.

Terri gave us a bit of her personal history – and her passion to support small rural hospitals. Evidently, small hospitals are becoming more and rarer. Terri is delighted to report that MCH is financially stable due to great support from the community.

Terri discussed a number of their recent equipment and facility upgrades, and she reports they are excited to welcome a new OB/GYN Doctor in January to bring in a Women’s Health service.

The hospital pushes hard on the quality of their services, and works hard to provide care to not only the patients, but also to the care givers.

Thanks to the Community for all the valuable support!

Terri Pena, COO and Chief of Nursing Services of Mountains Community Hospital.

Vic presented a couple of thoughts about the prison population problem, and the increasing number of homeless people here in California.

First up: AB 109. In response to court-ordered reduction in prison over population, California passed AB 109 – which re-aligned a great big piece the state prison population to local jails. It has also resulted in the release of a large number of people, as local jails have become overcrowded.

As a result of the re-alignment, the State has enjoyed a large decreased in expenditures which has been transferred to the localities.

Second: Proposition 47 in 2014 re-classified a large number of offenses to misdemeanor status. As sometimes happens, there has been an unwanted result – a large increase in the homeless population as people guilty of what used to be felonies have had their time in jail reduced dramatically. Property crimes have increased by 68% as people with substance problems spend more time on the street, and shoplift or steal to supply their habit.

Unfortunately, this has created problems for enforcement as police have become discouraged by the lack of punishment, and re-arresting the same people over and over.

A few thoughts: Take time to talk to your local law enforcement, and learn how to work with young people to keep them safe and out of the system. We have moved from a State administered system to a locally administered one. Try to get involved in local service, and as a village maybe we can start to reduce the problem.

Jaime Stiansen, President of the PTA at Charles Hoffman Elementary School presented their program – which she summed up well with “Focus on Building Good People for the Future – Go After Experiences and Opportunities!”

Jaime is bringing a few new visions to the school. One is to use the outdoors more. They find that having an occasional class outside helps teachers to connect to the kids. They have also put into place a few other programs including a “tinkering night.” An evening where kids are encouraged to take things apart to see what makes them work!

Rory is excited enough about this that he pledged $500 from the Automotive Repair Council!

A few other programs include Wellness Week, and the upcoming Fall Festival.

Sharon McCormick, sponsor of the Ballet Company, is looking forward to their production of “The Nutcracker” this fall. BUT the PAC at Rim doesn’t have heat, and it gets cold in there this time of the year!

Sharon is hoping that we can help pay some of the expenses to bring in portable heaters – and that we’ll all come to see the production!

Jack Cooperman and Kim Meers gave us an update on the Special Athletes program.

They have been quite active over the last year, and have added a number pf programs for not only winter sports, but also for water sports and golf.

They are really excited about the new deck at Snow Valley! Thanks to everyone!

They had a great video of the program’s activities and programs – they have been at it for 3 years, and are looking forward to expanding the program. One problem is that the equipment for the winter sports program is expensive, and they have been operating on a shoestring budget. So any help would be appreciated!

A few numbers: They have about 16 in the Yoga program, 9 in golf and 39 in winter programs, and they are planning a fishing program for next year. Interesting that they get quite a few “walk-ups” at Snow Valley!

Initiation Master Geoff Hopper proceeded to try to embarrass our new members –

Michelle Murphy: Boy has she worked at a lot of schools! She managed to acquire the nickname “Momma Bear.” Obviously VERY protective of her territory!

Vic Sardarian: Retire Judge, Geoff sort of tip-toed around Vic. Turns out Vic still hears a case or two occasionally, so that probably makes sense. Geoff characterizes Vic as “Judge Judy on Steroids. CAREFUL!

Keith Martin presented his “Have Set, Will Travel” program. Created when he worked as a School Teacher in Chicago, he has found great benefit to the kids that participate.

Keith has found that the game of Chess offered at our schools can provide a high level of help for lots of students. He has created a chess club program that he has been offering at the Middle School and at the High School level – and he hopes to offer it at the grade school level.

Keith finds that participation in the club can be quite a help, often giving kids a reason to go to school, builds teamwork, and requires minimum grade point levels to be able to compete.

Keith is very enthusiastic about his program, and believes it helps kids to do better in school, build character and school spirit. And it’s cheap!

Ernie works with the Narcotics Division – a division that has between 60 and 70 employees. They work with virtually all other law enforcement agencies including local police, DEA, Homeland Security and the FBI.

Ernie mentioned that one problem with their electronic surveillance program is that is has a difficult political perception – the view of some people is that they are somehow violating people’s rights in doing their work – Ernie described the program, and how they take great care in its administration.

Ernie described a few of their drug and cash seizures, including thousands of pounds of heroin, meth, and cash.

Ernie mentioned that one of their biggest new problems is the appearance of Fentanyl – basically a pharmacist grade opioid which is being laced into the heroin that is sold.

Ernie provided us with another very disturbing statistic – in states where recreational marijuana use is legal, approximately 80% of sale happen in the black market – creating all manner of problems.

It’s certainly nice to know that we have such a dedicated team working on this very difficult problem in our society.

Coach Julie Perkins discussed the almost always winning Rim tennis team. She gave us a brief discussion about the program, and the great record of success they enjoy. Team Captains Emily and Jaycee talked about the program, and the bonus of leadership, teamwork and friendship they receive from the group.

Julie is looking forward to challenging the teams, would like to expand their calendar – but that would require additional funding, and hopes we could help.

They can use help with transportation, equipment and uniforms and funds to hire officials for their tournaments.

Claudia, along with Josh and Katie presented the LINK program – a program designed to provide a transition for freshmen as the come into High School.

They spoke of the value of the program, Katie mentioned that she had been home schooled, and moving from home to a public high school was quite a culture shock! Josh came from the LINK program in Riverside, and relayed how the program helped orient him toward high school.

The program needs money to support their efforts, mostly for supplies and t-shirts, and they’re hoping we can help!

Katie Mashburn presented a wonderful speech of thanks for our support of the Odyssey of the Mind program – and a plea for support for the GATE program. The GATE program (The G in GATE stands for Gifted) is approved by the school , but there are no employees at MPH that are stepping up to sponsor it. Katie is going to present at the School Board meeting on September 19 at 6pm and asks us to show up and support her presentation!

John gave us a short update on the water company, and the status of current operations. The drought caused a lowering of revenues, but things are getting back to normal, they are in good financial shape now.

A couple of items they are working on – a solar plant at the property in Hesperia that will help finance most of the district’s electricity use – sounds like a pretty good plan!

Also, they are looking into a groundwater recycling program that would all but eliminate a low lake level. The plan is to recycle water through normal percolation, then use well water for service. John mentioned that, in his view, the water bond that was passed by the voters last year is baloney – it hasn’t added a bucketful of storage to our state system.

Last item – we can expect the pump station at North Bay to begin the rebuilding process – it has needed a re-work for a long time!

We always enjoy supporting the SAR group – and enjoy hearing stories of their helping the public – todays favorite was about a nice gentleman who needed to be picked off of the side of Mount Baldy – and needed to be rescued again at the same spot because he had left his sweater behind.

David Kane has made a study of the new FAA Routes to approach our Southern California airports.

He began his study when he noticed that it seemed that the number of large aircraft flying over the Lake Arrowhead area had increased markedly. He also noticed that the aircraft were flying much lower than they had in the past.

Mr. Kane looked into the matter and discovered that the FAA has recently initiated new approach routes that directed a much larger share of air traffic to fly directly over our community. He further discovered that the new routes were proposed by the FAA, and hearings were held to seek community reaction to the change and subsequent LARGE increase in noise and other pollution that is now affecting our community – AND IS LIKELY TO DRAMATICALLY INCREASE. Upon investigation, Mr. Kane found that almost no one attended or commented at the hearings, most likely due to the fact that the FAA did not provide proper notification to the public. In fact, it appeared to him that the FAA has purposely downplayed the hearings to keep attendance down.

David believes that it is in the interest of our community to ask the FAA to revert to the previous flight path which takes aircraft over uninhabited areas, and he is hopeful the community will come out in force to protest.

David has contacted Congressman Cook, and the Congressman has written to the FAA in our support – but more citizen reaction is needed.

David is circulating a petition for locals to sign asking that the decision to be reconsidered.

Wen works in Public Relations with the Epoch Media Group, which has a focus on human rights in China.

Wen reports that China has a very serious problem with human rights. In the past, the Chinese government has run a vast disinformation campaign, up to and including reporting that students were responsible for the death of soldiers during the Tiananmen Square massacre, not the other way around.

There is a group of people in China and around the world that subscribe to a practice known as “Falun Gong;” a program of body and mind “re-calibration” that is said to purify energies, and dredge out block-outs and impurities that compromise well-being. Evidently, the people who follow this practice are considered by the government as being less that second class, and are reportedly subject to vast inhumane treatment.

The Falun Gong have been reported as victims of organ harvesting for the profit of the government. One interesting bit of evidence is the wait times for transplant surgeries – which is extraordinarily short, 2 weeks for a liver for example. Some believe that the recipient of the organ can actually order an organ to specification, and the system finds a suitable donor to fill the order.

Wen’s view is that the practice is akin to the Holocaust – and it needs to be exposed for the world to see – and end.

The speaker was our own Paul Fournier who is our upcoming Membership Chair. Having recently attended Rotary training, he shared not only some what he learned but information from Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People that resonated the possibilities for growing our club. Everyone received a handout that elucidated 12 aspects of Carnegie’s work that could help us do better with membership. Playing to a raucous crowd, Paul gave an impressive PowerPoint presentation about Carnegie’s approach and it’s relevance increasing membership.

Kelly Kunsak gave us a report on the Camp – which is celebrating its 70th birthday!

It was organized 70 years by a Los Angeles Rotary Club, and has been in continuous operation since then. One of the camps main functions is to provide a place for a challenged to severely challenged person to get away for a week – and usually give their primary caregiver (often mom and dad) a break.

A few new items – They recently received approval for an official zip line – which will be built to be used by almost anyone with any disability – which is quite an accomplishment! They are also working on a program for disabled veterans.

Kelly was delighted to (pre) announce that they have received a very-very-very large endowment donation which will put the camp in financially GREAT position indefinitely – CONGRATULATIONS!

Today’s Official Speaker was our own Pat Davis who gave a program about the Mountain Arts Gallery (MAG) on Lake Arrowhead by the Belgian Waffle House in theVillage. Their mission is to promote art in the mountains. MAG is a coop of 50 artists who live in our mountain communities. 20% of the sales go to support the Gallery with the rest going to the artists. They offer classes for children and also adults with disabilities. To further fund their mission, they will sponsor their 5th Mountain Artists Studio Tour on June 30 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. This is a self-guided tour of local mountain artists’ studios. Participants can get their $25.00 tickets at Mountain Arts Gallery and The Lake House; they are payable by PayPal on their website at www.mountainartsnetwork.org.

Joyce Garrison and Sue Walker reported on the new Mountain Homeless Coalition (MHC), which they reported has begun with the help of St. Richard’s Episcopal Church, Lake Arrowhead Community Presbyterian Church and other organizations in the community. This new organization emerged from a homeless Point in Time Count in January of 2016 followed by another in January 2017. Nine were counted in 2016; 31 were counted in 2017.

The Coalition is now addressing issues of homelessness on our mountain year-round. They participated in the May 20th Health Fair in Crestline, and they are currently working to ensure that the 113 Rim of the World USD students considered homeless will begin school in the fall with backpacks and other supplies needed. MHC will also sponsor a summit on homeless Thursday, July 27 with speaker Phillip Mongano. The time and place are (TBA). At this summit the community will learn more about Housing First, a new cost-effective and successful program for addressing the issues of homelessness.

MPH students Annie Reid and Sammy Perkins reported on their middle school Interact Club. They are doing fundraisers to fund their service. At the MPH Spring Festival they will have a tug of war fundraiser. They are also selling lovely greeting cards that they they have designed themselves. These were available atour club meeting for $5.00 each. Proceeds used for charitable giving including

the purchase of a goat and two chickens for those in need through World Vision.

Today’s program was presented by retired Fire Chief and back working again Jim Johnstone.

Jim is now working at the State office of Emergency Services. He works to help bring all of the emergency agencies together to help with communication and coordination. One of the projects he is working on is the development and deploying of the “Firescope” system, a system designed to facilitate communication between the various agencies.

Jim announced that the drought is officially over – lots of grass available to burn, but it does burn – and go out fast. Hopefully, we’ll get through the fire season without any serious problems.

There are lots of agencies that need communication and coordination. The ECS has 40 members, and work through what appears to be a well-equipped network to help with passing communication from agency to agency. The public can listen in with scanners and get reports on fires, traffic, roads, weather etc. May times, the information in the reports comes from the public through reports to 911 or members.

There ae communication centers placed at fire stations 91 and 25, at the hospital, at the Presbyterian Church, and they have a mobile unit in the CERT trailer. They are working on putting radios in school busses, and they are working on a “Winline” program to provide emergency internet services.

The members practice every Monday, and offer classes for licensing in April and October.

Scott Markovich, Member of the RotWUSD gave a report on the school district.

Scott reports that we have been through a pretty challenging period – declining enrollment has been a problem, but it seems that the problem may be leveling out. The district has been able to maintain most programs including sports and vocational curriculum – which is helpful.

Scott spent a few minutes on school standards and measurements, and described how they relate to funding that is received from the state. Scott built a case supporting “Common Core” which he believes is working well.

Scott spent a few minutes on facilities and District economics, including the properties where schools have been closed, the building where the District offices are, and some land owned that they are working with the Parks and Rec district on.

Scott reports that for the most part, Rim Schools are in good shape – and he is very optimistic for the future.

Janice Rutherford is today’s guest speaker – and she is just now back from a visit to the cruising Aircraft Carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt – quite an adventure!

Janice gave a brief bit of her background, and introduced her staff at our meeting.

Janice told us that the mission of the County Government is 4 basic RES:

To provide municipal style services to county areas.

Regional infrastructure.

Provide a social safety net – which is ¾ of the budget.

Provide law and justice through the Sheriff’s office and the court system.

It seems that one of our largest problems is the law and justice system, as the State has push the prison population down to the counties, the counties quickly ran out of resources, so the probation department has been trying to pick up the slack created by what has ended up being an early release program.

Janice spoke a bit about zoning and land use, and gave a brief overview on the SkyPark approval hearings and progress. The next hearing is set for May 18, and it wouldn’t hurt a thing if we contacted all of the county supervisors and let them know our thoughts on the project.

Touring and Community marketing is a big item, the program used to provide money to the local Chambers of Commerce, but that program ran into control problems. So the county took over and didn’t do much better, so they are re-thinking the program, possibly back to the Chamber with more controls. The money comes from a local bed-tax on hotels and other lodging facilities. AirBnB is doing better at collections; the county is looking to work direct with them to eliminate the collection from homeowner’s problem.

There were a couple of questions; everyone is pretty tired of Davis Hopper whining about the diesel engine replacement requirements. Janice spent a few minutes trying to sympathize with him.

Hospital Administrator Charlie Harrison discussed operations at the hospital, and the current vote to continue the annual district tax – that’s collected on our property tax bills.

Operations are doing well – they just self-funded a $4.5 million seismic upgrade on the building, including new ramps and bathrooms.

Occupancy is up – which means more Medicare which only pays 40% of the billings on average. They provided 7000 patient-days of care in the last year, and 1200 in Acute Care. The Emergency Room is always busy.

Charlie asks all of us to vote, and if we have the opportunity to discuss the vote with our friends, urge them to vote “YES” too!

The hospital has 218 employees – and is a valuable part of our community.

Today we were pleased to have our Assemblyman, Jay Olbernolte give us a Sacramento update.

First up – Jay was a judge for an Odyssey of the World contest – and is really excited that Lilly’s group will be going – and Jay will help with a $100 per person check to help out!

Jay gave us a little personal background: He is really a video game developer, but decided he would try to help out as a politician. He is the Vice-chair of the budget committee, and had the opportunity to have 12 bills signed into law last year – more than anyone. He says it’s partly due to his legislative interest – which is to solve actual problems for people in our district.

Jay spoke a bit about the new gas tax – it will start out at 12 cents per gallon, and work it’s way to 20 cents next year. Which means ours is the most expensive state to buy gas in – and it would be a mistake to expect that much of it will go to improve or build roads. Jay seems pretty disappointed in the legislation.

While talking about new taxes, fees and the high cost of everything in California, he also mentioned that California has the highest poverty rate in the nation. Maybe the two are related???

Jay mentioned he is trying to help out with SkyPark – and invited anyone with a problem to contact one of his offices.

McKensie lost her voice (talking and yelling at the camp, no doubt) be had a great time as an alum. Sarah REALLY enjoyed the “Talent/No Talent” show; Madeline had a great motivational experience and Kaycie got in as an alternate – and was really happy to participate!

Lilly Richardson (Mike’s Granddaughter) reported on here team’s robot entry in the Odyssey of the Mind competition. THEY GOT FIRST PLACE locally and went on to state for a second place – and NOW TO WORLD!!! The world competition includes students from 200 schools, from more than 20 countries.

The team could use some help – it will cost about $9,500 to send the team to the competition – Lilly will submit a request for finding to give us the opportunity to help!

Emily and Paulina, officers of the Literature Club reported on club happenings – and took possession of a $500 donation check for their group!

Paulina also announced “MAD SCIENCE NIGHT” on May 24, from 5:30 to 7:30 at the High School – geared toward elementary kids, lots of fun experiments! They could use a little help and will submit a request.

Today’s program was a presentation from Stephanie Neumen about her visit to a refugee village in Uganda.

What a story – Stephanie showed us a short video of her visit, while describing the situation there. Uganda has turned into a place for refugees from all over Africa to come, as they flee areas that involved in war and revolution. It turns out the Uganda is one of the safe and friendlier and peaceful places in Africa, so it has become a natural safe-haven.

Stephanie tells a story about pretty bleak conditions, with families being torn apart, no water, little food and a lot of hungry children.

Stephanie could use some help with what has become a major cause of hers – and will turn in a request for donation.

Guest Molly Corsen reported on the “Ping-Pong Tournament” fundraiser – it was a huge success this year raising money for St. Judes Children’s Hospital. We also presented her with a check for $250 to help out!

They went through the basics of the group, and their current activities. They have been reading both literature and also introducing kids to poetry at all of the elementary schools. They also had fun with kid’s assemblies, and put on a Dr. Seuss Birthday play! They will be reading at the hospital on March 18 and 25th.

They could use some help buying books – and will submit a request for donation.

Larry King, Assistant Superintendent of Rim of the World USD spoke today.

Mr. King gave us a bit of his background – 25 years in the army prior to his education career. Sounds like a good background for an educator.

Larry spends a lot of time in the various schools – and has a focus on discipline and school safety. There has been a lot of reporting in the local press regarding the discipline problems at the schools, especially at Rim. Larry had a few thoughts in response:

The components of discipline are pretty straight forward:

Clear communication standards

Treat students with respect and with fairness

What happens afterwards?

Mr. King related an example – if a student acts with direct defiance, maybe using profane and threatening language, one reaction may be to send them to the principal. It could be that what’s really happening is to give what’s known as an “exit”- where the student simply gets to skip class. What they try to do is to find a way to NOT give an exit – and to find ways to do things to help.

Laura Dyberg gave us a bit of history of Women’s Day – it all started in 1908, and led to Women’s Suffrage – The Duarte Rotary Club had the honor of admitting the first woman as a member and promptly lost their club charter – which, when people came into their right minds, was returned – and they elected the first woman club President – Sylvia Whitlock!

What a desperate place – what could be a beautiful island nation is a nation of desperately poor and apparently helpless people. Rudy shared a few photos, and stories of his visit. Trash piled shoulder height, armed guards at the hospital and absolutely no sanitation.

A couple of facts:

Population: 10.9 million – U.S.: 318.9 million

Lack of Literacy rate: 48.7%m – U.S.: 12% (there is no excuse for this in the U.S.)

Colleen and Rob Myers presented their program – “PLUR Life Ministries”

PLUR=Peace/Love/Unity/Respect

What a group. Colleen started a job with Rim Family Services that led her to study Rave events that end up being drug problems for our youth. Her look at the problem resulted in she and Rob organizing an effort to rescue young people from the drug and sex trafficking culture that surrounds the RAVE events.

The PLUR Ministries works with a faith based message, and direct intervention. Intervention is done mostly by “Moms” – women who might have children the age of those being served. It has been found that women have better results initially because of the “Mom” role. A lot of the youth have had an early life without the leadership of parents, so they have found that a mom is in a good position to help. It’s also good to hear that faith based programs seem to have a better chance of success that secular – political programs.

They have a very well developed program that includes direct intervention, a “Camp 33” weekend designed to provide direct care for the youth with a strong emphasis on faith.

Quite a program – and quite a ministry. Both Colleen and Rob have quit their jobs and work with PLUR Ministries full time.

The team is a new feature at Rim, and has become a permanent program – started barely able to field a team, they have 32 on the team now. Evidently Rim is a natural – with one day of practice, the team went, played and won a title!

They could use some help with uniforms and equipment, the Board will consider their request.

Ty Ritter, Founder of Project Child Save, presented his program today – and what an affect the presentation had on the group.

The project is dedicated to rescuing children that have been abducted and sold into slavery – usually sex trafficking. Ty’s presentation was very moving – he works with law enforcement, and specializes in recovering trafficked children – some as young as 3 years of age. He and his team of ex-military special ops people have recovered 161 children – at very low cost.

We watched a video about their operations.

Taking notes on Ty’s presentation was difficult - Trafficking in children is the most heart wrenching crime, desperately saddening criminal activity. It’s very easy to see why Ty gets emotional during his presentation.

The group is comprised of 100% volunteers, and all operations are funded by donations.

When Kim isn’t hiking, she’s the manager at the Mt. High Market in Twin Peaks.

Kim told us about her adventure – and dream to hike the Appalachian Trail. 2184 miles, 14 states, from Georgia to Maine, quite an ambition! As a 60 year old mother of 6 kids with lots of grandkids, she decided to do something just for her self – for 3 reasons:

Top celebrate her 60th birthday

40 years cancer free

Simple peace of the Appalachians.

She started on April 10 in Georgia, and acquired the “Trail Name” of Kool-Aide due to her constant consumption of the beverage. This is a tough trail, especially for someone who has never hiked before. During the hike she fell 13 times, the most memorable was due to a (BIG) bee bite on the leg. While hiking, Kim took 1800 photos, some of which are on display.

A few remembrances – Kim enjoyed meeting other hikers on the trail, but didn’t like the snakes very much. Along the way, she ran into 12 bears!

Kim did about half the hike, and is planning to finish it this next April.

Haley is a website producer, and has lots of experience with the way the web works – and how it can help your business, and how it can cause problems.

A few facts:

There are 130 trillion pages of information on the web.

What we now call an “Ap” appeared for the first time in 2007.

Every move we make on a computer, smartphone or other connected device is being tracked.

Google has about 83% of the search market, and they turn your information search into information to help sell you stuff! What they are is an advertising Company.

IT’S ALL ABOUT MONEY!

The goal is to find out as much about each individual as possible so that product and service offerings can be targeted specifically at buyers that have expressed an interest.

Haley’s company specializes in creating a web presence that will target buyers at your organization – a very specialized field. The key is to target the exact buyer who is looking for your service or product, not to advertise in mass. It seems that they are very successful at it!

Chris showed us a powerpoint presentation of his Eagle Project – He plans to build an interpretive garden at Rim High School – which is quite an undertaking. The project is projected to cost about $4,734 – which included a lot of donated material and time from experts and a mural painter – but needs lots of supplies.

Chris was almost done with his presentation when Geoff and Davis offered to subscribe a $1,000 of the project if Rotary would match their gift – Butch offered materials, Duane offered tractor time and the Resort offered food and refreshments for the workers.

Nicole told us her story – she went on vacation to Mexico and ended up staying for 2 years. Unfortunately, that led to a divorce. On a visit home, Nicole ran into teacher John Arner who was interested in her story of the small village she had been living in – and offered to help fund a community project there she was interested in.

Nicole ended up dedicating her life to educating the people of San Pancho, and showed us a video of her work and the people there. She has built a 15,000 square foot community center, and hopes to continue her work there.

She could use a little financial help – which will go to our Board for consideration.

Local Novelist Ken Decroo visited with us – with a talk about his first novel –“Almost Human” and his current efforts for the sequel – “More than Human.”

Ken talked a bit about his career, and noted that all of his occupations have been fraught with difficulty – but being an author is by far the worst. He had 98 rejections from agents before finally finding one that would help! Now that that’s behind him he reports that there are 442,000 copies of his book in print, and it has been picked up by Kindle.

Ken reports that after the publisher found the market for his book, they offered and he signed a deal for 2 more books – that included an advance! Which means that he is writing frantically to produce “More than Human” prior to the deadline.

Ken spoke a bit about the craft of writing – He notes a few thoughts:

For him, the idea starts as a “fossil” that begins the process of “digging” up the story. In his first book, he was well into it when has editor asked how the book would end – and he reported he didn’t know, the story was still unfolding. The editor replied that he would need to send her the end before she would edit any further – which GREATLY aided the process!

The whole project started when Ken was a young man – and he discovered a chimp that could communicate with sign language – which lit the fire.

Ken relayed lots of stories about his career in Hollywood, and things that led him to where he is now.

They have managed to pull of 30 days! Everything went well, no back-ups or complaints. They have 300 employees at present. The holidays were pretty much sold out, all of the tickets were sold online, they sold none at the gate.

At the moment, about 20% of the park is open, with pending permits and authorizations still in the works. Bill seems a little upset with the problems associated with getting the approvals, especially with issues regarding groups that oppose the development like the Sierra Club that has threatened a lawsuit.

Bill says the park maxes out at 1000 visitors, has no idea how they crowded 4000 in in past years.

They think about 20,000 people visited the park in December, and they are working on a reduced charge for people who would like to visit to have dinner - everyone likes that idea!

Long time breakfast freeloader Mila Scolnick was the subject of Initiation Master Geoff Hopper’s extreme vetting – which resulted in ABSOLUTELY NO DIRT on Mila. The worst he could come up with is that her two sons are both lawyers!

One other thing – a story regarding “cutting the cheese.” Who knows what that’s all about.

Stephanie Phillips reports that Rim High will be sponsoring a special speaker Mr. Henry Olster. Mr. Olster is a man who was taken from his home in Germany during the Holocaust at age 5. He was liberated at age 16 – his father had starved to death, his mother was a victim of gassing. We are welcome to the program – Friday the 16th at 10am.

Bev Rios spoke today about Mountain Hearts and Lives. Her main focus is to thank our group for our long support.

They are currently in the process of their Coat ad Christmas Toy drive – and are still accepting donations. If there are any Rotarians that can help with the delivery of the Christmas bags and toys, she would welcome the help!

Today’s program was offered by Gene Lumsden, owner of Turner’s Outdoorsman.

Gene gave us a bit of his background as to how he ended up in the sporting goods business. It turns out that Gene was discovered as a competitive trap shooter early in life, which led to quite a career as a professional shooter. It all started by buying a $1 raffle ticket that got him a shotgun re-loader. After his father bought him a shotgun, his shooting career became legendary.

As Gene advanced up to Olympic Games, he finally arrived at the idea that he was really good at shooting, but wanted to do more to make his mark. So he began a series of career steps that led up to becoming the CEO of a rifle importer, which purchased a near defunct Turner’s Outdoorsman in 2009. The company has become the largest seller of sporting firearms in California – with more growth to come.

Gene spent some time discussing current and upcoming legislation in California, and the problems the laws present to the public.

Gene spent some time discussing the upcoming “re”-registration requirement for AR style rifles – even if you own one that was purchased and registered in California, it must be re-registered to avoid the owner becoming a de facto felon. Gene thinks that is unreasonable, and discussed the ramifications.

Gene also discussed the upcoming regulations that will require a $50 permit for the purchase of ammunition in California. No one knows how it will happen, who will enforce it, or where the money will go. What Gene suspects is that people will just buy their ammo while visiting Nevada.

He is very happy with the amazing clubs here and our great connections with our communities. What we need to do is offer people an opportunity to help!

Bob gave us a bit of his history, and how he found Rotary:

He retired from the dairy business, and Mrs. Duistermars suggested he needed to find work, or find an 8 hour a day hobby! So Bob went to work with the United Way, ending up as the local CEO. Along the way, the United Way people thought he should get to know the community – so he joined the Rotary in the community! The rest is history…

There are so many things we are positioned to fix – and Rotary can do it!

Rotary is “scalable”- big, middle or small – we can work with anything.

Our presentation today was from Carol Brady, from Action for Children, Zambia

Carol’s organization is something. Their focus is on taking care of the large number of homeless children of all ages in Zambia. Carol happened across this almost by accident, when she saw the large amount of help that was needed due to the utter lack of concern for the large population of children in the country.

So she created her cause – Action for Children, Zambia. The group has become quite a force in the country, providing Outreach, Crisis Care, Salvation Home, Education Scholarship, and the Kulanga Baqna Farm. The farm is a place where members of their family can live and work with a permanent family – which is the focus of the group.

The organization is truly amazing in the care that is delivered – and we recommend you have a look at the website – www.afczambia.org to get the full story.

Jeffrey Barnes is a college professor that decided to pursue his dream of creating a college course about the history and genius of Walt Disney and his creation Disneyland.

Jeff gave us a bit of history about Walt’s successes and failures, and very interesting facts about the creation of what is now the largest and greatest media empire on earth! It turns out that Walt had a number of miss-fires and a bankruptcy before he finally created what would end up being Walt Disney Enterprises. It is a very inspiring story, and Jeff carried through on his dream to not only create a class on the story, but also write a very inspirational book about Walt Disney – the Dreamer!

Chris was in Switzerland last year and gave us a quick rundown on his year spent there – one big benefit was that he learned how to speak German! He says he learned a lot about connecting with people, and the hardest part was making friends and saying Good-bye!

Carl spent a lot of time describing the level of training they all go through to get certified to be on the team. They are trained in radio use, compass use, tracking, lost person behavior, evacuation training and much more.

Alyssa and Carl told the story of a deep creek tracking – and the problems of finding a lost person. A young woman was lost for 3 days – and the search team had all but given up hope when they found her asleep on a rock in the sun. Everyone was excited when she woke up!

The team is thankful for Rotary, and our help in supplying them with the equipment that they need to do their job!

Averill Strasser and Bev Rouse from the Water Charity presented their program.

The charity is built on the premise that they will help provide clean water for as many people, all over the world as they can – Averill says that more people die from lack of clean water than from all incidents of violence.

They mostly provide support, resourcing, engineering for water projects world-wide, often working with the Peace Corps. They have worked on more than 3,000 projects all over the world, and provided about $3,000,000 in services. They are directly responsible for providing water for about 3,000,000 peole.

Headquartered in Crestline, their budget has grown from $100,000 5 years ago to almost $1,000,000 today.

David Golder and Charlene Bruegger presented the Mountain Pregnancy Center.

The center was founded to help provide service to both the born and the yet-to-be-born. As it turns out, there are a substantial number of young mothers living in a car or couch surfing, and they have little in the way of resources to take care of themselves or their children.

The center is an all-volunteer group that helps provide a program and outreach to babies and young mothers at no charge.

They recently were able to acquire an ultrasound machine through their fundraising efforts, and by working with Samsung Corp. which gave them a 50% discount on the equipment!

They will be having a fundraising banquet at the Alpine Camp and Conference Center on Thursday, September 15 at 6pm. State Senator Mike Morrell will be there, tables for 8 are available for $300 each. They will have a live auction with our own Lyle Barkley as auctioneer!

Jack Cooperman and Kim Meers did a brief presentation on the Rim of the World Special Athletes program.

What and exciting program they offer – They are looking for people who have special needs and would like to be a participant. They do both winter and summer sports, including skiing, snowboarding, water sports etc. Most of the activities use special equipment.

They are looking for someone with a pontoon boat that can help, and have recently committed to a building at Snow Valley.

We have committed to help sponsor the group, and Deborah presented a check for $1,500 for support!

Jack Cooperman and Kim Meers - Rim of the World Special Athletes program

FINALLY we had the opportunity welcome Bridget and Ed Blehm as members, and get them to pay for their own breakfast!

Having done his usual due-diligence, Initiation Master Geoff Hopper tried to pass a little dirt along on our new recruits, but the best he could come up with was their commitment to our troops! Bridget and Ed have actually leased a home on Palisades for the purpose of loaning it to active military and their families!

Our own Joyce Savage spoke a bit about her dedication to the MS Walk – and a few of her accomplishments:

She and her team has raised $105,000 for the cause over the years!

Her goal this year is to raise $11,000 – and she’s more than half way there!

Joyce was diagnosed with MS about 22 years ago, and through the use of alternative medicine, has been able to remain active – VERY active. Joyce has been a participant in the Walk for 9 years, and walk 20 miles twice a week for training!.

Polly had a few interesting thoughts – it turns out our little community ranks up with Lake Cuomo Italy and a couple of resorts in the Swiss Alps as a great vacation destination! Also, our own LouEddie’s Pizza is listed in the top 10 in the U.S., also the Waffle House is in the top 10! We are a top destination for trip advisor.

SO it seems as if our Chamber has been working diligently to promote our little community.

Polly also spent some time talking about the fact that the Chamber no longer receives any of the funds from the county bed tax – even though the county receipts are around $2 million, about $925,000 is generated from here! Polly suggests that we each draft a letter to Janice Rutherford, our Supervisor, to try and get the rules changed to allow for this important budget item. Mary-Justine Lanyon recently wrote an article in the Mountain News detailing the issues, and ways they we may be able to help. Polly recommends we read the article and then write to Ms. Rutherford. One other suggestion is to come to a MAC meeting – held the first Thursday every month.

Everyone is really excited about this year’s Home Tour – the theme is “Rustic Chic” and sounds like a lot of fun.

Polly also discussed the Special Olympics program the Chamber sponsored – and the great success of our local athletes! Polly gave us a bit of info on new programs in this area for this year.

Karen Reams and Bob Kinzle of Park & Recreation gave an update on new projects. The Tour de Lake Arrowhead is August 27th. Over 200 riders are expected. Please call Bob if you are interested in volunteering.

Steve is an investigator for the US Postal Service – and manages to run into some very interesting crimes. It seems that putting mail in a collection box can be dangerous – Steve spends quite a bit of time looking into people who steal mail, find checks then change the payee name and cash the checks. No fair.

Another popular scam is people offering lottery winnings by mail – the scam includes sending money for taxes or bank fees so they can send you your winnings. Turns out Steve has a terrible time convincing the victims they are the subject of a scam – and they often continue to send money to fraudsters. Usually elderly people, but not always, sometimes younger people are caught too. Steve presented a bunch of photos of evidence of the crime - something for us to look out for with friends and relatives.

Linda Smith from Comfort Pets presented today, to fill us in on the benefits of their carefully trained dogs. She terms them a “Gift of Life from God.” We had three dogs with us today – including the beautiful Chelsea, Barry Robinson’s special friend.

Linda explained the beginnings of the program, and the benefits that are derived from the pets – up to and including a lowering of the pet owner’s blood pressure! They were organized in 2006,

and have grown to have 50 teams in the field at this point. They visit 12 to 15 healthcare facilities monthly, and have 9 training programs currently in the mountains.

The dogs are carefully trained to have a great temperament, to accept friendly strangers and to love children.

Their goal is to provide training to pets that will help to enhance human life. Dog can provide a calming influence on their owners, and help provide identifiable health benefits.

The group raises money through community donations and the sale of custom built first aid kits – available for $30 each.

Today’s program was offered by Warren Green – from the UltraLife Body Scan organization.

Warren promoted the value of having a full body scan to help identify potential and active health problems Warrens company will be here in Lake Arrowhead on August 12 and is currently taking appointments for these helpful procedures.

A few thoughts on preventative care: The scan helps to identify people – usually young people – who are at risk for Sudden Cardiac Arrest – which is mostly fatal.

Don’t forget – when it comes to preventative care, YOU are the one in charge.!

Eagle Scout Candidate Danny presented his project – to build and fill a sandbox for the Kindergarteners at VOE. He already has a good start on the project, but needs about an additional $450 to wrap up! The necessary funds were pledged by Geoff Hopper through his proxy Davis. (Davis pledged for half as well. Not necessary to feel too bad for poor Geoff)

Karen had a PowerPoint presentation, but, as is often the case, the computers weren’t cooperating!

Each of the Scouts made a brief presentation:

Olivia – has been a Scout since the 7th grade, has done 132 hours of community service and is working on her “Gold Award” – working to extend the Lending Library, and is working on extending it to the pre-school level.

Tia - has been a Girl Scout for 6 years, and reports the Troop has logged almost 1000 of community service! Tia likes serving the Hospital and Camp Paivika. She has earned her “Silver Award” and is working on the “Gold,” working to help animal shelters and a “How to take care of your Pet” program.

Cassidy – LOTS of service activities – Special Olympics, Camp Paivika, and honing her mediocre acting skills! She is working on a “Gold Award” with a focus on Fire Awareness.

Amber – Has been a Scout for 7 years, a great experience! They don’t sell cookies anymore – they leave that to the younger girls, but they are fundraising for a College visit trip. Her Gold Award is focused on the Pathways program – she hopes to extend it to the elementary level.

Thacker thanked the girls for all of their help at all of the community spaghetti dinners – which seem to have become a specialty! Barry Robinson also thanked them for all of the help at the Le Grande Picnic.

Troop Leader Karen reports that the group is 14 girls strong – which is a bit unusual for girls of their age – but very gratifying. Karen mentioned that the “Gold Award” in Girl Scouts is roughly equivalent to the Boy Scout Eagle Scout award, but is far rarer – she estimates that there is only one Gold Award for every 100 Eagle Scouts.

Our Exchange student Midori is back from her train tour, back on the mountain last Friday – Special thanks to Rudy and Karyn for opening their home to Midori. Deborah presented an “Above and Beyond” award to the Westervelt’s along with flowers.

Mike gave us a bit of background on himself, his family and the projects he has lined up in Sacramento. He spend some time talking about what he sees as the major problem with our bloated government – we evidently have amassed $679,000 in unfunded liabilities for every person in the U.S. Mike doesn’t see this as sustainable, and is looking for ways to fix the problem.

As far as California is concerned, the weather is great, but in a survey, comes in dead last as a desirable place to start a business. We have the highest taxes, the most regulations and fees, etc. etc. etc. We also account for 34% of the welfare in the US. Mike is working to find ways to help. One recent accomplishment is to get the so called fire fee into court – with a goal of labeling it what it is – a tax – and an illegal tax at that.

Mike spent a few minutes talking about ways that we can work to restore what the founders had in mind – a free and unfettered country.

Mike seemed to be a dedicated hard working public servant – a phrase he pointed out.

After a short video, Rudy described the way Rotarian’s can make a difference by including the Rotary Foundation in their estate and gift plans, he presented a PowerPoint program entitled “Leave Your Legacy.”

Rudy also mentioned that our club does very well in annual foundation giving – about $180 per member per year on average – and he challenged us to target $200 on average this year.

Rudy’s presentation included the different levels of recognition that can be earned at various gift levels.

Retired President Lyle came forward to present our own Jill Neumen a special award for her dedicated service administering our scholarship program!

Jill says it is quite a program, not necessarily focused on the highest achieving students, but rather focusing on students that have a high sense of character, and some that could use a little help. Sometimes awards are just for career help, to give deserving students a little shove into life. Many times, one of our scholarships is a “surprise” to the student!

Incoming President Deborah Fancett gave us a report on her visit to Korea for the Rotary Convention!

She had a great time – a few observations: Seoul is a beautiful city, and one of the cleanest places she has been. Also, Deborah noted that it seems that there were very few people that speak English.

The conference was absolutely amazing, with 44,000 people in attendance. The keynote speech by the Secretary General of the UN was very inspiring. Deborah thanked us all for the opportunity to participate.

Michelle and Nate Calkins of the Search and Rescue team presented today!

Michelle reports that this year the team has spent about 3700 hours either in training or on active rescue.

Michelle told the story of the Kitrich rescue – she noted that the woman made it more difficult to be found by continuing to walk. The best plan is to STAY PUT!

One happy note - there are fewer rescues required because of GPS and cellphones – very helpful tools. Nate recommends taking some equipment if you go for a hike – water, hiking boots (no flip-flops) and basic protective clothing. A mirror and light are helpful!

The Search and Rescue group is recruiting constantly – if you are interested, arrange to come to a meeting!

Our speaker for today was Kelly, the director of Camp Pavika. Kelly gave a great presentation once again about the extraordinary work they do with mentally and physically disabled children and adults. Kelly will be sending a flyer about a Rotary Open House on August 13th.

Boy Scout Will Paginni presented his project to install new goal posts at Charles Hoffman. He stated he still needs $350 for the project. David and Geoff Hopper offered $200 if the Sunrise Rotary would donate $100. The Rotary voted to approve!!!

Nyron McClean reported on efforts to bring healthcare to Haiti – and had a photo presentation of the program under way there. The program was in the North, with an 11 hour ride on a dirt road to get there.

On this trip, they were able to screen 708 women for cervical cancer, the found 43 that were positive and were able to successfully treat 35. Nyron says that many of these people have never seen a doctor.

They are working of putting together a second trip, hoping to screen 1700 – 1800 women this time.

Girl Scout Madison Oaks presented her “Gold Award” project – a new sidewalk at Rim High between the portable classrooms and the tennis courts. The existing area needs lots of help – there are some concrete bleachers there, but it’ very difficult to access them due to the terrain. Madison plans to remedy the problem.

Madison presented a series of photos and drawings of the project, and reported that Pat Brennan will be helping to mentor the project, and it has been approved by the School and the senior administration.

The project will cost about $5,500, with plans to start on July 1 – and you can come to help!

In our usual conservative and careful approach to helping, Geoff Hopper proposed a $1500 donation to be made by the club, to be matched by his own $1,500 with an immediate vote – which passed. (Surprise!!)

Rotarian Nyron McLean introduced the VTT team from India. The team members are all involved in dairy in some way in India. They have visited a dairy farm in Hemet, a creamery in Riverside and a chemical factory in La Habra.

Stephanie Phillips gave us a bit of background on the Rim Ed Foundation missions – and provided a few students as examples of their work. The ROP program is designed to help students prepare for and get into a college or vocational program. Students get college credit that they can use to help gain admission to all sorts of schools.

We had Carter as an example of a young man who has been accepted to the fire academy after being appointed a fire explorer through the ROPO program.

We also had Kylie who has been going to acting and directing school as a result of her participation in the program.

AVID Program:

Jackie Lopez and Tom Flores are two student participants in the AVID program – Advancement Via Individual Determination.

AVID is a program designed to help students prepare for and gain admission to a 4 year college. According to the students, the program provides everything a student needs to prepare for and make college happen!

2016 is a “growing” year – student population is up a little for the first time in a number of years. They are working on a very high end college prep program – “Scott’s Encounter” and have added 6 new AP classes. The goal is to become a super competitive high school again. They will be bringing back the Blue Ribbons! They are experimenting with new class schedules that permit additional classes to be taken, which Derek has high hope for

They are working on Mountain High, and have made a number of changes including dedicating faculty to the program. This year, Mountain has 44 students, they are expecting 50 next year.

Manny gave us a bit of history – he has been working on the mountain for about 16 years. The yard primarily works on maintenance, he doesn’t have much input on projects the district do.

Manny spent quite a bit of time going over the new road dividers on Highway 18 – again with the note that his job is to figure out how to maintain the barricade once it’s installed. Manny explained that the project is being done in sections to cut down on traffic disruptions.

There were lots of questions regarding the barricade program – and Manny did a great job answering them, but the fact remains that his people had nothing to do with the project, and in fact are working hard to figure out how to maintain it!

Manny noted that the reduced speed limits that are in effect are going to be strictly enforced – SO BE CAREFUL! The plan is to complete the project this year.

Joyce Garrison and Sue Walker presented today with a talk about the homeless on the mountain. They work with St. Richards Episcopal Church outreach – and have a focus on the homeless.

They are in the process of developing a program – and have discovered that it’s not as easy as distributing food. There are lots of government agencies and procedures, as well as the simple problems of finding the homeless to enable them to help. Evidently, there are very few county caseworkers – only 4, and there are no services or workers dedicated to the mountain communities.

They can use help –if you would like to help, leave your email address and they will be in touch, and if you would like to make a donation, direct it to Hearts and Lives.

Gwen spent the last school year with 2 families in France – and is very appreciative for our support. She says she has become almost fluent in French, and will work to be completely fluent. It was a life changing experience – and she was able to verify that it’s OK to take a 10 minute shower there!

Johnny Roberts from Manzanita Ranch – a program that Lyle and Jill came across and enjoy supporting.

Johnny runs the Manzanita Ranch – a ranch that is dedicated to taking care of veterans that are or have experienced PTSD. The ranch use horses and rides along the Pacific Crest Trail to help our troubled vets find a bit of peace, and help them to heal.

Johnny is passionate about his ranch – and had a brief presentation that introduced us to a few of the [people he has helped. Quite a service.

Johnny gave us a bit of his background sort of an erstwhile rags to care provider history.

The ranch is supported by sponsors, in two ways. Number one is maintenance of the horses and the property, the second is a fund set up to eventually purchase the ranch from the landlord. He needs $300,000 to purchase the property.

Deborah went over the rules – including the one that no one ever hearts “WAIT TILL EVERYONE IS DONE SPEAKING BEFORE YOU APPLAUD!!! Of course, no one heard it this year either.

We awarded cash prizes as follows: $25 for Honorable Mention, $50 for 3rd Place, $100 for 2nd Place and the Grand Prize of $200 for the best talk.

Judges are: Susie Stuart, Lauralee Hopper and Lyle Barkley. The Official Time Keeper was Ken Nielsen, and each speech must be 5 to 8 minutes, with point loss for any deviation. The identity of each contestant was held secret until the prizes were awarded.

The Speeches

No. 1 (Josh Tenney):

“Mediocrity is my pet peeve!” This contestant has a daily affirmation or 10 items: Believe, Motivation, Focus on Why, Explore, Work Hard and Have a Good Day, Don’t be Afraid to Fail, See Thing as they Are, Do What You Care About, and DO IT NOW!!!

Great speech!

Number 2 (Laurielle Schwab):

A VERY fine talk about her mother – and her role in the San Bernardino terrorist attack. A real life Nancy Drew, her mom handled the communications for the police during the incident that helped avert the planned bomb blast. A speech dedicated to First Responders.

A true hero - !

Number 3 (Tyler Bartholomew):

A review and opinion talk about the high cost of getting an education – and some emotional thoughts about why we as a society have reason to work harder to find ways to help. A well spoken plea for change.

Number 4 (Kylie Stehmeier):

A really nice view of our local support group – our whole community! Kylie finds lots of nice things to say about our little mountain town, and how the community comes together to support our own. She discussed the problem that not everyone has the same type community as we do. Rotary helps by instilling a passion to serve!

Number 5 (Jamie Washburn)

Body image in our society – anorexia, eating disorders – much of the problem has to do with the media. Advertisers work to create an emotional case for their products – and in so doing, create problems for many young women. “Self-worth is not based on appearance – beauty is found in all body types.”

A well-reasoned plea form our youth!

____________________________________________________________

What an amazing group of young people – and an amazing bunch of speeches.

The Judging:

Jamie Washburn: Honorable Mention

Josh Tenney: Honorable Mention

Tyler Bartholomew: 3rd Place

Kylie Stehmeier: 2nd Place

Laurielle Schwab: GRAND PRIZE!!

Rudy gave a brief comment about the history of the “4-Way Test,” it seems its history goes back to an effort to save a business that was in trouble.

Today’s speaker, ex-Rotarian John Wurm, was excited to sit at table 1 today. He says they wouldn’t let him when he was a member.

John came today to give us an update on the Lake Arrowhead Community Services District – and the current water situation. Johns comment, “It’s still a little dry here, but we are doing better.”

John discussed last year’s bond issue, and the fact that the money is still sitting, and has yet to be put to any use. He thinks that we could best spend money on extending our water storage capability. In his view, we go from wet year to dry year, the problem is when we have water, we don’t save it. He thinks we could spend the bullet train cash on dams, and that would eliminate much of our water shortage problems.

John spent a few minutes discussing the current situation at the LACSD – water use is down about 30%, he can’t think of a reason that will come back anytime soon as people are accustomed to lower usage now. As such, the District has a $200,000 shortfall so far. He favors debt repayment as a way to lower costs, and working on their pension challenge and supplemental fees. They evidently have $5 to $6 million banked from the supplement fees, he thinks let’s stop collecting them.

Rob Roy presented today’s talk – with a call to people to come to this years “LeGrande Picnic.”

Rob gave us a bit of history on the hospital, from its’ origins, being run by Nuns as “Santa Anita Hospital.” Unfortunately, the Nuns had trouble with bill collecting, and were forced to sell the hospital to the community in 1965. The facility fetched the princely sum of $515,000, with an $180,000 down payment.

Rob’s dad Ted founded the Arrowhead Golf Classic as a fundraiser to pay off the balance – which happened in 5 years! The golf classic has continued since, and has focused its donations on both the hospital and the High School. In 1993, the Classic was taken over by the Country Club and re-named the “Ted Roy Charity Golf Classic.” It will be held this year on September 16.

Lyle recalled the history of Rotary – which until 1987 was a men’s only club. Thankfully, the club changed its approach, and began initiating women into the club. Rudy reports that we are at the about 30% women membership level, so we’ve got some work to do to get to 50/50. Either that or we could ask 200,000 men to leave? (KIDDING!!)

Lyle recognized two very special woman Rotarians – Laurielle Schwab and Jamie Zinn with special plaques, flowers and a check for donation to a charity of their choice!

Scott Craft introduced CIF Champion Wrestler Jordan – and we got a nice review of the Rim Wrestling program. Jordan says he wanted to play basketball, but Scott simply insisted that he really wanted to be a wrestler. So he became a wrestler with great success after losing every match in his first year. But, as a Senior he is Number 1! And he’s hoping to go to the Fire Academy next year.

Marilyn gave us a bit of her personal history on the Mountain. She has been her for about 40 years, and worked at Santa’s Village back when there was a Santa’s Village!

She also worked and retired as an educator, but has taken on a new career – as the Director of the Rim Family Services agency.

Rim family services has 31 people that work there providing all sorts of help to the people of our local community. They often work with the Sheriff as well as with the school district. Some of their programs include anger management, County Service referral, court ordered DUI programs, family counseling. They have a van that they use as a mobile office to help serve all of the local communities.

They often work with Operation Provider, and the PAT program (Parents as Educators) working with parents to provide appropriate education aid for families. One pet project was the skate park, which was evidently a place to buy drugs – which they have cleaned up.

Marilyn works with the older adult programs on senior programs, problem solving, counseling, and no-cost therapy. Her programs also include self care help, both mental and physical.

It seems that there are many reasons to praise the Rim Family Services program – Thank for all that you do!

Mandy Kreminski , Occupational Therapist and operator of the “Silly Room” gave us an update on her program.

Mandy’s case load has gone up dramatically, and she is happy to report that she is helping more than ever – and is excited about it! She received a grant, and was able to purchase equipment that helps a lot, and she reports that about 1/3 of her cases are done at no cost. She is currently working to provide services through Mountains Community Hospital, which would improve her cash flow.

Today’s program started off to be a report by Heather Dominguez, the Principal at Lake Arrowhead Elementary, but ended up being a report – a very informative report – on the Rim USD by Heather Dominguez, the new Director of Educational Services for the District.

Heather reported on the progress and result of the consolidating of the schools – turns out a lot of planning and preparation was done for the move with a goal of making it as easy as possible on the students and teachers that were moving, and they report success! The largest impact was on LAE that received the largest number of students and teachers. As it turns out, they are able to accommodate all of the new arrivals, and Heather reports that that no new buildings or temporaries were required, and that class size was not impacted.

With regard to the student count situation, the District in budgeting for a 3% further decline in student population next year. The District estimates that there are about 1200 school age children in the district that are using alternative schools, home schooling, Christian schools and Charter Schools. Heather speculates that a fairly large number of parents are choosing other options for religious reasons.

All told, the move seems to have gone well; Heather thanked us for our support and mentioned that the students and staff at the schools always enjoy it when we show up – with a program, or just for lunch!

What a presentation. Joy introduced all of the members present, and went through how they go about working their way through the ranks. One of the most amazing parts is how many tunes they must memorize! One Senior (Also known as a Sergeant Major) has memorized about 310 tunes!

The group performed for us – what an amazing performance, to a standing ovation.

Joy thanked us for our help, and hopes we’ll be able to help again this year.

Tiffany O’Hara presented today’s program – as the new owner of the Alpenhorn News.

She used to work at a number of news outlets, including the LA Times. Tiffany believes that Community Newspapers are very important – she bought the paper to get involved in a small community, and she has always loved the mountains!

Everyone used to think her paper was mostly gossip – but her plan is to turn it into a serious newspaper that represents the local community.

Nick Crisp presented his Eagle Scout Project – his plan is to build a railroad tie step and pathway from the parking lot at the Lutheran Church to the parking lot at Rim High – it turns out the church parking lot is used for overflow parking when there is an event at the school – and the steps should come in handy!

Nick says the project will cost about $2,000, and if we can help he would appreciate it!

Jay gave a bit of information about the happenings in Sacramento - they are in session 9 months of the year – currently on break, back in session in January. Jay has the second largest district in the nation – about 10,000 square miles – it can take up to 5 hours to drive across the district! His office is in Hesperia, and he seems to take some pride in taking care of constituents and their problems with the bureaucracy.

Jay has lived in Big Bear for 21 years, and his background is as a small businessman and entrepreneur, operating a video game development business that has 20 employees. Jay also enjoys working as a flight instructor. He got started in politics when he first ran for a seat on the Big Bear Airport board and won. He then ran for and won a seat on the Big Bear City Council – then went big time!

Jay is a big proponent of modernizing the government’s technology, and is working on that as his legislative project. He also works as Vice-Chair of the budget committee – which are currently working on two very big problems – health care and transportation funding.

Jay spent a few minutes’ specific issues, problems that he sees and the difficulty of doing business in California, Environmental Impact Statements, etc. Davis Hopper asked a couple of questions regarding regulations that concern his business – which, of course, turned into something of a rant. Jay made every appearance of being concerned.

It seems to the Secretary that we are fortunate to have Jay as our Assemblyman!

Today’s program was given by Kat Oplinger – Mountain Division Fire Chief

Chief Oplinger gave us a brief overview of her operations – basically the entire mountain from Crestline to Forest Falls. She told us about the Heavy Rescue Center that has been established in Lake Arrowhead, at station 91 in the Village.

The Chief spent a good amount of time describing and discussing one of her pet projects – the Zone Operations Center, a program she has set up that services and organizes first responders in the event of a disaster. The most recent deployment of this service was at the terrorist event in San Bernardino. It was evidently quite valuable for the first responders there. The Chief had lots of nice comments about all of the efforts made by the police departments, fire departments, the FBI and all of the first responders.

Today’s program was presented by Giovanni Annous, Rim of the World USD Superintendent.

Dr. Annous gave us a bit of his personal history, his immigration from Lebanon in 1982, and his history leading up to his current position. Giovanni has a personal focus on community service, including being a Mason for 30 years, in the Interact group as a young man and currently a member of the noon group here in Lake Arrowhead.

Giovanni presented his case for community promotion – the school district has been losing students at a steady rate for a number of years, and he would like to help find ways to turn around the population loss.

Three thoughts:

“Scotts Legion” – a new focus – on – the community group sponsored by the High School designed to bring together local service, community, government and faith based organizations to find ways to promote our community.

Structure the school by using the “STEM” program – a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

Covered California program – find ways to bring together health care and the community to help people find appropriate medical care.

Dr. Annous is passionate about his proposal – and left the group with the impression that it would happen!

With our New Member Initiation Chairman Geoff Hopper out today, President Lyle drew the duty of swearing in Jack Cooperman.

Jack has won awards as a special effects cameraman – has been a Chamber of Commerce Volunteer of the Year, works with the Historical Society, the Adaptive Recreation Group – and helps disabled people learn to ski.

Usually, we find and report DIRT on new members. As such, Lyle has a serious deficit in his program.

Holland Lowe presented her plans to provide Thanksgiving meals to more than 350 people in the community – and she needs $950 to make it happen. Lyle asked for a motion to donate the needed funds – MOTION APPROVED!

District Conference will be held here at the Lake Arrowhead Resort on May 13 through 16.

Cliff Dodformay will be the keynote speaker

The Peace Conference –

Ontario Convention Center

January 15 – 16.

BIG Program!

Rudy presented his message as Governor:

Think about the most important person in your life – Rudy’s was a young man named Lonnie that was confined to a wheelchair, with very little movement possible. Rudy’s story of Lonnie was very moving, and a tribute to caring and the ability that we all have to bring light to other people.

A few other things mentioned as examples of the Rotary life:

An early “Hearts and Lives” project – the story of Art, and his green house.

Jim Manson and his passion for young people, the creation of “Career Day”

Rudy suggests that we should all take a moment and phone the person in our life that “made the difference.” You’ll be amazed at the result.

Jamie Zinn, Denise Amante and Don Latva came forward – Jamie told her story of having a very difficult year with her husband’s illness, and her own. Don Latva came to the rescue helping them take care of themselves and their business. He was there, and is a picture of Service Above Self!

Tom show us a video –that went a long way to explaining what “El Nino” is all about. Tom Has studied the El Nino effect for a number of years, and presented information about how the effect causes changes in the weather pattern in North America.

Today’s guest speaker was Max Ahrens, President of the ROTARACT Club at the University of Redlands.

Max told us a bit about their group – and the projects they have undertaken. They were “refounded” in 2011, most of the members are business majors.

They have committed to raising $10,000 annually, and use the funds for the Peanut Butter Project. Past support has gone to Focus on India, “Circle of Amigos” in Nicaragua, Mending Kids International, and the Free Wheelchair Mission. They have surpassed their goal, and have raised it to $15,000 for the year. They have raised $12,000 so far, and are looking for donations which will be matched by RI.

Thomas Flach, Acupuncturist, spoke about the history of his profession and the benefits of his services for our well being and good health. Many members raised their hands that they were familiar with this 5,000 year old profession.

Allison went through all of the difficulties locals have been having getting fire insurance on their homes, because of our status as a high risk neighborhood.

She’s happy to report that she is able to get reasonably priced insurance a different company other than Allstate – but all of the service and claims comer through the Allstate Company. She’s very happy with the new company!

Carrie Gilbreth presented today’s program about upcoming plans and public hearings regarding plans to upgrade the I-15 and I-10 freeways.

Carrie presented a number of possible scenarios, including the addition of lanes, hov lanes and Fast Track lanes. The object is to present the public with the possibilities, then gather comments and thoughts prior to the public hearings.

Carrie reviewed each of the alternatives, and asked that members consider them and perhaps offer suggestions

A few things to keep in mind:

Traffic will increase by 25 to 50% in the next decade

Space is limited

Safety if paramount

Funding is limited (Surprise!!)

A few thoughts from the group:

How about a freeway on the desert side of the mountains?

Double deck freeway?

Narrower lanes?

Looks like there is plenty of work to be done before we will get relief from the traffic.

After being our guest for the requisite 3 breakfasts (seem like more than that), Terry Caldwell has finally succumbed to his calling as a member of our little group.

After conducting his usual exhaustive background review (in the hotel lobby), Geoff Hopper reports that Terry is the single most boring person he has run into, unfortunately a somewhat pitiful life. 3 Daughters and a son keep him busy when not being an electrical contractor, and his wife manages to keep the business on track.

Lake Arrowhead Resort Hotel Sales Director Steve Tremewan spoke today on the state of the Resort, and the tourism industry in Lake Arrowhead.

Lots of interesting facts – Room in the parking lot is at a premium – which means occupancy is up nicely, up 15%. Revenue growth has been good, up $4,000,000. They would like to find ways to improve weekday occupancy, there is quite a bit of competition from other areas, California has a large number of destination resorts. Steve reports that 90% of their business comes from California – we are primarily a “drive” market.

Some very positive things:

New pontoon boat

The golf course has been very helpful

They work on hiking, tours

Steve is working hard to coordinate with local events, suggests that it might be fun to expand the Polar Plunge to include a lot more people and events. They will be sponsoring Kayak races on Memorial and Labor day next year, and suggest an “Arts Month” to spotlight local artists and artisans.

Steve expressed appreciation for their local partnerships, including historical events and Sky Park.

A couple of further thoughts – there are 70-0 AirBnB’s advertised in our area, don’t seem to be a problem from a competitive standpoint.

They are looking forward to hosting the Rotary District Convention this Year!

Today’s presenter was Eric Nava – and oh my goodness does Eric have a lot to say!

Eric is a Senior at Rim High – a wrestler, and seemingly he has made a career out of joining service clubs and groups at the High School. He is incredibly involved, belonging to Interact, RYLA, the Philosophy club, FBA, Poetry Club, etc., etc., etc.

Eric had a few high points. The Philosophy club offered an opportunity to learn to speak publically – (which he does with abandon) - but the real lesson was the importance of listening. A place you connect with people that you would never connect with otherwise.

A couple of further thoughts – As a member of numerous clubs he found out the really, truly he is not the center of the universe – a valuable lesson. While at Boy’s State, Eric found that 90% of the Members of Congress have been to Boy’s State – quite a number!.

A comment on RYLA – “2 ½ days of amazing! He says he connected with 1000 people in 2 days, and it will influence him the rest of his life.

Eric had quite an energetic speech – and managed to shake every hand in the room when he was done.

Captain Mahoney was transferred to Twin Peaks in January – and loves the mountain!

Captain Mahoney gave us a general view of the tasks and responsibilities that his department is responsible for. Normally, the Sheriff is responsible for “traffic reconstruction” in the areas they serve, in our area this is handled by the CHP. He reports that the SB Sheriff’s Department is considered one of the best in the country.

A few thoughts:

The previous Commander of this office had been here for 29 years!

He has spent 24 years in the department

A recent assignment was commanding the Crime Lab

He was recently stationed in Muscoy – and is really excited he was transferred to the mountain!

He mentioned that the Sheriff’s office may be taking over the San Bernardino City Police Department due to city budget problems.

The Captain reported there are few homicides here, but one happened here yesterday – preliminarily, a burglar was shot by a homeowner – more to be reported later.

Here encourages his Deputies to live on the mountain, and believes that them being a part of the community is helpful to their job.

He notes that we are a very involved community – which he finds to be a very positive feature.

The Department is studying the use of body cameras – the decisions will be made shortly.

His office has recently annexed what used to be the courtroom and court offices that have not been used since 2006 – giving them lots more space to house all of the volunteers!

Ken spoke about his efforts at his first novel – it has been in the works for what seemed like 25 years. Finally published, he’s looking for the second printing, and has signed up for a sequel!

The idea for the books theme came from Ken’s time in animal training for the movie business – he decided he had a story to tell (which Ken says is required to write a novel), so he got started on the book – and took a class in story-telling to help. It did!

Ken says the signing tour is great fun, but a LOT of work, especially if you are trying to write a sequel.

Ken talked a bit about his years in animal training, a number of stories about his adventures with actors. If you have a chance, ask Ken to tell you the story about the 8 foot rattlesnake on the loose in the ivy. Another great story Ken tells is his first and last adventure dropping a wagon off of a cliff. Quite an adventure!

Today’s speaker is Crestline Club member Carolyn Lawrence; recently back from Brazil with the Vocational Training Team.

Carolyn began her talk in Portuguese – without sub-titles, so notes here were somewhat sketchy!

Once transitioned to English, Carolyn told us about her trip to Brazil with the Rotary Vocational Training Team. The trip was originally scheduled to go to Bangladesh, but due to problems there, they rescheduled it for Brazil.

Their trip was designed to visit and work with schools, teachers and students there, and Carolyn had photo presentation of her visit.

A few take-aways: The public school system there is incredibly dysfunctional and politically difficult, so most parents will struggle to send their kids to private school. The public system is extremely under-funded, and in many cases administrators are elected for two year terms. Seems pretty difficult.

Carolyn had a chance to conduct a spelling bee, and one favorite moment was simply going out to a playground and visiting with students during a recess period.

To wrap up, Carolyn pitched the Crestline Clubs upcoming “Steak At the Lake” fundraiser – it will be held on September 5, $35 per person for a great evening!

John Moore introduced today’s speaker – Bert Upson. Bert was a narrow survivor of the collapse of the South Tower at the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001. Bert has written a book, “On a Clear Day” recounting those experiences.

A few of Bert’s notes:

2819 died that day in the fall.

514 died as a result, from lung problems or other injuries.

393 Fire Fighters died.– They never received the word to abandon the building.

18,000 suffered the horrible effects of the toxic dust cloud – including Bert.

100 people jumped.

200 people died in an elevator.

People were pushed out of the elevator so others could get in.

143 boats participated in the evacuation of lower Manhattan. The evacuated more than 500,000 people without incident.

Bert showed a short video display of the event, along with photos of the Mars Rover and the USS New York – both built with steel recycled from the WTC.

Chad discussed the upcoming construction of the new solid barrier for highway 18. The engineering is wrapping up, bids will go out and construction is scheduled to start in November. Completion is expected in March 2016.

Other projects: Friction treatment for Highway 18 to be done in 2017, wit repaving in 2018.

Chad tells us that we have a new Director, John Belinski. Mr. Belinski has the reputation of being very active in his management, so expect to see many more projects!

Geoff says it was all but impossible to find any dirt on Michelle – except that she has been responsible for her clients being awarded more than $300 Million in grants – (there’s gotta be a slush fund in there somewhere).

Geoff administered the oath, and Michelle is now officially our newest – No. 2085 in the district – Rotarian!

Our speaker today was our host, Camp Pivika Director Kelly Kunsek. She thanked us for our support over the years and for inspiring the support of other organizations in the the community. Founded by Rotary Club LA % in the 1940s, Camp Pivika provides an amazing summer camp experience and programs for individuals with disabilities. The majority of the summer staff are college students, and they themselves learn and grow grow from the experience.

The cost per camper to Camp Pivika for five nights of camp is $1,800.00 while the charge is $975.00. If they get a scholarship, their is a co-pay of $100.00. Their funding comes from local organizations and fundraisers as wells as significant grants.

Campers range in age from eight years to some in their 70s. Enrollment is way up 460 enrolled for this summer, which is a record. The camp offers a numbers of ways for campers and parents to transition slowly into participating fully in the camp experience. So they work with families as well as those with disabilities, including a camp for moms. Camp Pivika continues to provide an adaptive pool and and an adaptive equestrian program. A new project in the works is a one of a kind adaptive zip line, equipped with a race car seat. We should get to see it when we meet here next year.

Jamie has an interest in the Rotary Direct foundation giving program, and reviewed the program with the membership. One very important point is the fact that half of the funds raised through the program come back to the local club for local use.

John mentioned that the funds we received back from our donations came back to fund the Scholarship program.

Jamie mentioned that our district was the first one in the world to receive funds – and we have reason to be very proud of that!

The program is VERY easy to donate too, with many people choosing to donate regularly through a monthly or quarterly credit card charge. Jamie had form to help us on board with our pledge of “EVERY ROTARIAN EVERY YEAR!”

Employment Litigation Lawyer and Club Mouthpiece Geoff Hopper offered today’s program, which can be summed up very easily:

NEVER HIRE ANYONE UNLESS YOU WANT TO SPEND A BILLION DOLLARS DEFENDING YOURSELF.

Actually, Geoff presented a number of good ways and strategies to help avoid problems with employees and potential employees. Employment litigation is to be avoided, especially here in litigious California – as it can be very costly and very time consuming.

Geoff claims that you could never know all of the rules – lawyers don’t know all of the rules – so his suggestions were welcome!

Farewell to Mike and Karen Stevens! We are sorry to see Mike and Karen move all the way to Maine! I’m not sure they could get any further away and still maintain citizenship! Thanks to Mike for all of his help and service, and to Karen for her support! Best of luck!

Cyberterrorism was today’s topic, and was presented by author James McFarlin.

Jim started his presentation with a simple prediction: There is no good news. The US has been the dominant power for more than 70 years – and has done that by projecting power in all areas. But our readiness has been in a state of decline, planes are old and ships are worn out. And there is a new area of concern: Cyberterrorism.

In his view, the US is lagging desperately in fighting cyberterrorism – we are not projecting power, we are the hunted and we need to catch up quick.

Jim went through a few facts –

The internet has no security.

Technology is everywhere – and it’s all connected

There are many human factors – which can cause mistakes.

It is politicized – unfortunately.

There have been a large number of breeches of security – think Target.

Jim seems very concerned about our power grid – and the devastation that would happen if it were compromised. He thinks 85% of all economic activity will stop within 20 days of a large power outage.

Jim’s message: We need people to be afraid to mess with us. We shouldn’t wait to be attacked. We have the weapons, we should use them.

McKensie is a 16 year old race car driver – and has apparently done very well in the circuit! She races in the “Outlaw” division, and has been in the top 10 in about 40 races, has finishes. She has one win and a 2nd overall to her credit!

McKensie’s home track is Irwindale, but most races happen at the Orange Show track.

McKensie’s dad and grandfather are evidently drivers as well – which led her to the sport.

Mandy specializes in pediatric therapy – ages 0 to 21. Her mission is to be “A positive Influence – One Person at a Time!”

If we didn’t know what an Occupational Therapist did, we do now! Mandy focuses on young people that have problems doing normal, everyday items like getting dressed or riding in a car. Many of her patients have problems like autism, and have very special problems that she is trained to work with. Many times, her therapy crosses over with physical therapy as she teaches her patients alternative ways to do things.

Mandy read a few letters from parents of patients – her results are amazing!

Mandy mentioned that she could use some help with special cases, as they cannot always afford to pay for services. Mandy is fine doing pro-bono work, but could use some help covering costs!

San Bernardino County Supervisor Janice Rutherford was today’s guest speaker.

The Supervisor started by describing a recent day she spent with the Sheriffs Deputies at the range – Sounded like fun as they put her through one of their simulated assault situations! She said it is good to know that our officers are very well trained, and how they are trained to deal with their on the job problems.

Supervisor Rutherford spoke today about the recent study that was commissioned to review the possibility of the Lake Arrowhead Communities becoming a city. The Supervisor went through number of the items that are a part of the study including the services that the new city would be responsible for.

There were a number of question for the Supervisor, which pointed up the (VERY) controversial nature of considering cityhood. Ms. Rutherford closed on the thought that the study would be out sometime in the summer – and whatever action is taken at that time is completely in the hands of the voters of our community.

Darren Morocco from COAD presented the “Basic Business Awareness Project” for the group. Darren is in charge of the emergency preparedness program for the Country Club, and went through his the plan he has created for the Club.

Jim Johnstone gave a brief presentation regarding this year’s fire season – in a word – IT’S GONNA BE THE WORST EVER!!! Jim gave a brief description of the danger, and what it means to decide to not evacuate when ordered.

Taylor made a brief presentation about her experience with RYLA, and how it helped her climb out of her bubble and gave her a shove to run for president, a great help for her self-confidence! She looks forward to participating as a RYLA Alum in the future

Exchange student Gwenn Griggs reported on her upcoming stay in France – which we are sponsoring! She is still waiting for a city and family assignment, but will be leaving in August for her 9 month stay. She has been quite a young Rotarian, having been the President of Interact, and participated in many service projects!

Chair of New Member Initiations Geoff Hopper swore in two new members:

Stephanie Phillips: Geoff tried really hard to find some dirt on Stephanie, but could only relate that she is a native Californian, has 4 kids, and is VERY overqualified to be a member of our group. Geoff did say that he and Stephanie spent time in jail together!

Catherine Obregon: Again, Geoff stumbled in his effort to dig up dirt on Catherine. She does have 4 sons, all very accomplished. Also, she has 9 grandchildren! Again, Catherine is VERY overqualified for membership in our group.

As the lights dimmed, Geoff administered the official oath – and, SURPRISE – they both accepted membership, overqualified or not!

The lights came back up, and Stephanie and Catherine were congratulated by a long round of applause!

President John reviewed Jamie’s resume – suffice it to say Jamie is VERY accomplished!

Jamie started by reviewing the general condition of the Rotary Foundation programs – and is happy to report that they are all very active and in very good condition, and very thankful for the major sponsors of the programs – including our own Barry and Cheryl Robinson!

The goal of the Rotary Foundation is: “Peace is Possible,” And aske the question – “how, in reality, can ANYONE be a legitimate target???” Jamie expanded on the theme, and went through a brief history of the Rotary Foundation, the founding and many of the significant events over the last century.

Jamie also presented a very interesting video centered on a rowboat voyage – that wazs analogous to the journey of service by Rotary International.

Everyone knows that one of our friend Jack Cooperman’s favorite causes is the “United States Adaptive Resources Center.”

The USARC spends a lot of time and effort bringing skiing and snowboarding to people – mostly kids – that have disabilities. Jack has been working with the group for some time, and is passionate about the good that it does for people who have trouble with physical activities.

Jack described the program, the training that is required and the smiles that he sees from people in the program.

Thacker presented Jack with two snowboards that have been donated to the program to a long round of applause.

Bobby Field and Co-Conspirator Natalie (I didn’t get her last name) discussed their film making projects.

Natalie is working on a documentary film about the hikers who were captured on the wrong side of the border in Iran – and were held as prisoners for 2 years. Many remember the story, but Natalie was obsessed by, and decided to make a movie about the story.

Bobby is working on a feature film that is rock and roll based – with some of it to be filmed in the Lake Arrowhead area!

They both talked about the steps leading up to producing and distributing a film including the writing, producing and one of the most important parts which is raising the funds to make it all happen. One new and very powerful source of fundraising is “crowdfunding” which Bobby described as it relates to his project. His goal is to raise $300,000 to put his film, which has been on the drawing board for almost 9 years, into production.

They also discussed the differences between the documentary style and the feature style. Both seem to have a very high level of enthusiasm for their projects!

Nyron McLean, a member of the Riverside Sunrise Rotary was today’s guest speaker.

Nyron is heavily involved – and very passionate about the problems of the people of Haiti. Everyone remembers the earthquake disaster in early 2010, which all but levelled the highly populated island nation. Between 250,000 and 300,000 people died in the disaster.

Nyron has taken the cause of Haiti to heart and is doing everything he can to help provide basic services for Haiti through his “H-3 Mission” agency. He has visited Haiti many times, and is scheduled to visit again in late February. He has organized a large effort to help, and has helped found a number of orphanages to care for the large p[population of homeless children.

Nyron showed the group a very graphic video of Haiti – and credited the Armed Forces of the United States as being incredibly helpful!

Rudy Westervelt and Nyron will be working together to find ways that we may be able to help.

Bob made a brief presentation on the Citizens on Patrol program – which is very active in our area. There is a patrol most every weekday, and it turns out they do a lot to help extend the service of the Deputies.

Captain Ells made a presentation about the history and recent activities of the Sheriff’s Department. Founded in 1853, the San Bernardino department provides law enforcement services for about 1,000,000 residents, and operates a 7,000 bed prison system. They provide law enforcement on a contract basis for 14 cities in the county.

Rick is happy to report that the general trend on crime in the county has been down – for the last several years, there have been 2700 reports of crime in the mountains over the past (almost) year, down from 5000 in the past – a great trend. The crime problem that is the most active is burglary, due to the large number of unoccupied homes here.

Rick spent a few minutes on recent changes in enforcement, including a description of Proposition 47 – which has changed the nature of a large number of felonies to misdemeanors. Not sure how that will turn out!!

President John introduced Steve Tilden – the director of the Boys and Girls Club.

Steve has been involved for 5 years – and expressed excitement for the receipt of or check for support6 at the auction!The program has been around for 20 years, and regularly serves 300 participants at their 3 locations. With funding cuts, they have done very well with their thrift shop in Cedar Glen! Funding from grants has been cut by about 70%, and fortunately, they have been able to maintain services through the success of the store and private donations.

Geoff managed to ferret out a few details about Scott Craft and Steve Hollstein:

Steve: A banker with 2 daughters – has been in the mountains forever. Famous for telling a Queen Tour Group that the Tower is actually an elevator to an underwater restaurant. Comment from Steve: “Honored to be a part of the group.” He may think better of that in the future

Scott: A teacher, coach and contractor, resident since 1976. Famous for single-handedly straightening out Morgan Hopper. “Happy to be indicted – I mean inducted”

With the usual fanfare and dim lights, both Steve and Scott accepted their respective oath to a round of applause!

The Rim High Literature Club presented today – and what an impressive group of young people they are!

This semester, they are in the process of creating a mural depicting great authors and stories, with a hope of promoting a higher level of interest in reading.

Next semester, they will be setting up an elementary school reading and tutoring club! The idea is to promote a MUCH higher level of independent reading. They are seeking to inspire children to read more – to find ways to help kids want to read more outside of school hours and help them build the skills and knowledge for higher education.

They want to teach kids to get into books! To listen to their presentation, BELIEVE IT!!

Today’s program was presented by the Honorary Mayor of Crest Park, Penny Shubnell.

Penny works extensively with our large senior citizen population. Penny works with the Dial a Ride program, provides meals for seniors, and operates the Thrift Store in Top Town.

Penny reports that the program was most active during the economic turn-down, and has recently slowed up a bit. The Rebuilding Together group provides a very important program for the people that Penny helps, and she offered us thanks for our support it.

Evidently, government funding for Penny’s nutrition program stopped in 2011 – and the mountain Rotary clubs were supportive enough to allow her to maintain the program which was very helpful for a large number of people.

Brandi introduced us to Dr. Giovanie Annous, the new Principal at Rim High.

Dr. Annous seems to mark a major change in management style at Rim. A long time educator, Dr. Annous has recently worked very successfully in the Fontana School District – turning a very troubled school into a successful one.

His goal is to reinvigorate Rim by introduced something he sees missing – PRIDE. He sees pride in the necessary ingredient to helping the school become a success. To accomplish this, Dr. Annous has started a number of new programs including a total clean-up of the campus, installing tables for students to congregate at, new awards ceremonies and a visiting area for students – “Area 5200.”

He asked if our group might consider making a donation to help purchase an additional table for the students to sit at.

Dr. Annous took questions from the group about their bullying program, Cleanliness of the campus and the awards program – known as the “Scotts Legion.”

Dr. Annous seems full of energy and up to the task of making Rim a showplace!

Julie introduced the tennis program at Rim – the program has been doing very well, with 27 boys and 35 girls on the team! The boys advanced to CIF last year, and the girls team is ranked number 2 in the CIF, and is advancing to the finals.

Julie introduced 2 of her stars, Lauren Walker and Kaylie Stehmeier – both members of the CIF team.

John called Bill & Carol Priest along with Secretary Barry Smart forward to the podium – to present Bill and Barry with their Paul Harris +1 pins! Carol installed the pons on Bill and Barry to a round of applause from the group.

Karen Baldwin and a few Girl Scouts from her group presented their plans for their “Silver Award Project.”

The girls have organized a “Community Preparedness” event to be held in Blue Jay in the parking lot of the Lake Arrowhead Patrol Security office – this coming Saturday the 25th. It will be held from 10am to 3pm. The goal is to help the community prepare for a natural disaster, and to understand what resources are available.

Eagle Scout candidate Evan Kraskin and dad Chris presented Evan’s project. He plans to remodel the Senior Quad at Rim High School, with a plan for plantings, a new octagonal bench, inspirational posters and a series of public announcements – Evan is asking for help financing the project – he need’s $350 to pull it off.

Geoff Hopper said he and his moron brother (his words) offered to fund the whole project!

President John asked tuxedoed MC Geoff Hopper to preside over the opening of the Special Presentation Envelope – delivered on a silver platter.

With the lights dimmed, Geoff described the honor to be bestowed upon our own Barry and Cheryl Robinson: The Rotary International Foundation’s “Major Donor Award.”

This is a very special award commemorating only the very dedicated among Rotarians – the Robinson’s being the newest! Their gifts and service to the Rotary Foundation have been extraordinarily generous, and everyone was excited to offer a standing ovation!

To commemorate their achievement, the Robinson’s received diamond pins, and a lovely crystal commemorative piece engraved with their names and achievement. President John noted the engraving spelled “Cheryl” as “Shirley” which will, of course, be updated.

Barry and Cheryl thanked the group for the honor, and cited the principals of Rotary as the force behind their generosity.

Congratulations to Barry and Cheryl, and thanks from the whole group for your extreme dedication to all causes Rotary!!!

Carol created and operates “”, a program based in Zambia dedicated to caring for and educating homeless children living on the streets of Zambia.

Carol founded the group after visiting Zambia and seeing so many desperately poor and homeless children there. Carol appears to be anything but a shrinking violet – she decided that she was going to do something about the problem, so she just dug in on the principal that she would simply take it upon herself to help as many as she could. Helping at the street level, she started with one, and has worked up to currently having about 75 kids in her program.

Her goal is to care for them, provide the tools for them to be able to function in their society and to give them the ability to take care of themselves.

It seems that almost every dollar that goes into the program goes to work to provide the care that Carol set out to do – as she does it almost singlehandedly, often getting help from family, friends and former homeless kids.

Carol applied to our group for help with funds for medical supplies – a check for which was presented at our meeting.

Initiation Chairman Geoff Hopper tried hard to come up with some dirt on new member Laura Dyberg – but, in an amazing moment of complete apoplexy, Geoff had nothing but nice comments. Laura was sworn in by Rudy as Geoff was without words.

Gloria reported on the sad state of affairs here on our mountain as regards the homeless population. There is evidently a large population of homeless people on the mountain, and Gloria had worked to try to help as much as possible. One thing the hospital is able to work with is a “resource card” that are funded by agencies and groups in the community. They pass the cards out to people who have received medical treatment at the hospital, and need help for transportation and meals after discharge.

Gloria says that from her perspective, there are no solutions – only situations to our local homeless problem.

Resources are limited on the mountain, but many homeless like living here because of the nature of the community.

A few observations and thoughts:

Transportation is always a problem.

People have begun to tent camp across from the hospital.

Low income people come to the mountains because of the relatively low cost of rent here.

There are many homeless families with children.

Ways we can help: support the local agencies and churches that have programs to offer support for the homeless, like “Hearts and Lives” Church of the Woods and the Presbyterian Church.

Rudy was our program today, with a report on one of the events to expect during his tenure as District Governor for 2015-2016.

The event is the “World Peace” conference that will be held in Ontario in early 2016.

As someone said at the time, Rudy doesn’t do anything small – and this conference will prove that! The plan is to provide a setting for ways to bring peace to as many as possible through grass roots efforts by a uniquely qualified organization – Rotary International. The conference, a group effort bringing together many of the Rotary Districts in California will feature a cast of hundreds – with 80 breakout sessions regarding a large number of ways to help through conflict resolution.

Our second speaker was Mo Harrison from Rim Family Services. Mo is involved with public awareness of the top 3 most abused drugs on our mountain; marijuana, alcohol and prescription drugs. There is a real need to have a place to drop off drugs that are no longer needed. The Twin Peaks Sheriff's Station offered to host a Prescription Take-back Program that would be open during office hours. A MedReturn Drug Collection Unit needs to be purchased and bolted to the ground at the Station. The Unit is $995.00. Mo is asking for Rotary support.

John Wurm representing the LACSD board spoke on water issues. There is a possibility of a water bond in the November election for $8.75 billion. This money would probably go to the north Delta area. Our water usage was down 15% in July and 19% in August which attributed to a loss of revenue of $350,000.

Our occupancy is at 40% which also adds to a loss of revenue. John stated the lake is down 1/2 foot from last year. He went over some big and small options. Most are pretty expensive. One real possibility is IPR (recycling our water). The golf course is already doing a very successful job.

There is also a need to replace/rebuild leaking pipes so we don't lose any water.

Newly designated fine master, Ken McKay spent the last several weeks looking at the picture on the first page of the Mountain News. He decided everyone who participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge should be fined.

Nate and Michelle are the rookie Search and Rescue team members. They gave us a review of their program, and described their recent maneuvers and training program.

They took their oath in February of this year, after applying in 2013, and going through the training program. Michelle and Nate described some of the training exercises they do to keep current, and discussed a recent grid search they participated in in Joshua Tree.

The program has 17 full time people in it, and we are all thankful they are there!

President John introduced our speaker – Paul Melzer – of the Wildland Conservancy. Mr. Melzer has a very interesting background that has led him to be a Founder of the Wildland Conservancy – the largest non-profit land owner in California.

The group was founded in 1995 with a goal of acquiring rustic lands throughout the west, and preserving them all to enjoy. They have acquired more than 150,000 acres of wildlands.

Paul described many of their preserves, and had a powerpoint photo presentation show the group. At many of their preserves, they have 1st class facilities to help people learn and understand their environment. Some of the preserves have other hiking and camping facilities. 100,000 children have come through their programs!

The group is very active in acquiring new lands – and has had a part in preserving 800,000 acres over the years.

A few of their sites: White Water and Mission Creek in Palm Desert, Pioneer Town in Yucca Valley, Wildwolves in Bakersfield, The Oak Glen Preserve. Each is worth visiting, and Paul invited all to let him know about a visit to Oak Glen so he could arrange a tour.

The group offers a beautiful book with many photos – for sale at the meeting.

Jerry spoke a bit about the Council – it is comprised of volunteers who have a mission to find ways to make our mountain less prone to fires. One way they help is to provide access to funds made available through the State for cleaning up the forest, and for trimming back vegetation to make us more fire safe.

After the bark-beetle episode, they also helped by coordinating the helicopter removal of dead trees from hard to access areas. Another project is their “chipper Program” – a program for property owners to trim trees, leave the trimmings on the road for chipping through a program sponsored by the Council.

Thanks for what you do, Jerry!

Jerry signed a children’s book for donation to the library as thanks for his –presentation.

Briscia Elawar took over for a very special event honoring all of the club members’ spouses, and the way they help us support our mission. They were all pinned as Honorary Members!

Shab then spoke of his history, being born in Lebanon and his very poor family. Shab had an agreement with his father that he would lift his family out of poverty – which he was able to fulfill at age 32!

Laura Dyberg, founding member of the Fire Safe Council, gave a brief history of fire issues on the mountain. The Fire Safe Council was begun, by local concerned citizens, in 1999. She stated that 98% of all wildfires are started by man with a very small percentage by lightning.

Fuel elimination is the key. Make your home safe by keeping the outside perimeter free of debris that could be used as fuel. She advocated having an evacuation plan in effect and having an inventory ready of the items you would not want to leave. A video was shown, YEA Rudy, of the devastating effects of wildfires.

Duane recalled some of the earlier owners of the Lake, including Jules Berman, and the improvements to tte area made in that time. Evidently, Mr. Berman has some serious political pull – and it help him lobby for Highway 18 to be widened to 4 lanes in the 1960’s – he felt that he would never be able to fully develop the area without an improved road.

Duane also discussed some of the early water and dam issues. In the 1960’s, the residents rejected the idea that the Lake would become a reservoir for the state – which seems to have been a good call!

Duane also had a nice bunch of photos of the lake, and construction and dredging activities that have happened over the years.

Dr. Ama Lacey, General Surgeon on staff at Mountains Community Hospital gave us an inside look into the hospital, and the amazing capabilities they have developed over the years.

She gave us a bit of her personal bio, including the fact that her career started in Ridgecrest – while she lived in Corona. Still living on Corona, the commute to the Mountains is much better – except for foggy days!

Dr. Lacey emphasizes getting to know a patient carefully and fully to help understand exactly how to help – a practice that seems to help a lot.

Dr. Lacey had many nice things to say about our local hospital, including the staff and they high level of equipment and machinery she needs to provide her service.

Member and Post Master Denise Amante presented a few thoughts about the Post Office. We all learned that the Post Office was founded in 1775, and that postage rates were WAY higher at that time than they are now! In the past most long distance mail was transported by boat – nowadays, it happens through a contract with FedX!

Also, what everyone suspected is TRUE: The most profitable part of the Post Office is junk mail! Who would have guessed?

Denise also spoke about some of the technology that they use to keep on track which actually sounds pretty sophisticated. Unfortunately, they find themselves in the position of needing to consolidate some facilities, leading a number of members concern about the closing of the Rim Forest facility.

Jim turned the podium over to Chief Ron Walls – who spoke about the ways we can be prepared as residents – by being CERT trained, learning how to communicate (by text) during an emergency and what has been learned from previous disasters, such as the Mexico City earthquake.

Ron described the CERT program, and said they would be offering a new course for those interested in the fall.

Not a lot of good news, but good reason for us to understand that we live in a dangerous place!

Jim spoke a bit about our mountain – and the special problems that we have. We don’t have a lot of house fires – but when we have a fire, it has the opportunity to get very large. The fire department has 8 fire stations in the area – the specific reason is to have as short a response time as possible to keep the fire from getting too large. ALSO, 70% of what that does here is emergency medical services, so station proximity helps that as well.

Jim spoke of our ability to work together as a community – and our nature as “mountain people” that leads us to live here in the first place.

Jim handed out brochures for disaster preparedness, and spent time encouraging us to consider a disaster plan for our families.

Monica asked everyone to please complete their info sheets so she could make the most of this season’s fining – which will be collected in cash this year.

Monica did a dry run – noticing President Moore’s lack of name badge, Mike Cronshey’s illegal U turn in front of her office and Scott Markovich’s still on display (He lost) campaign sign. Doesn’t look like Monica will miss much -Bring your wallet.

Ken Decroo was today’s program speaker. He spoke about the great changes and enormous mandates in the education system.

Ken gave us a brief commentary about “Common Core”. Evidently, the program was created in 1997 to develop new standards for teachers and administrators in the education workplace. Ken likened it to uprooting a tree every so often to see if it is growing properly! It seems he may not be a fan of the program. His comment is that it might not be a bad program, but the execution is awful.

Ken also spoke about the “LCAP” program. It is supposed to bring controls back to the local community, but really ended up creating a large number of unfunded mandates. There is a very difficult environment for finding – especially since funding is based upon kids sitting at desks – and our local enrollment is falling.

Ken talked a bit about his background, and of his time in Fontana, and his pride in the program that he developed there and brought to the mountains – the “Community Nights” program. Ken has used that program to help bring the community to the schools to help – which is his goal – The system needs help as the funds diminish. The community needs to step up to help. Education is everyone’s job!

Today’s Annual Memorial Day Program featured Leslie Dodge Taylor – a stewardess who helped ferry GI’s to and from Viet Nam in the sixties.

Leslie was a flight attendant in the 60’s who worked for Continental Airlines, one of the carriers that was contracted to transport troops to and from Viet Nam during the war there.

Leslie described the procedures they used and a few of the service men she had transported – noting that the Navy was the nicest, the Army was the most fun and the Marines were the most macho! No notice of the Air Force. She was in Viet Nam during the roughest part of the war – the TET offensive, and told several stories about the troops, and the things they did to make them comfortable. (Like smuggling Coors beer aboard the plane) Leslie said the troops on the way in had little idea what they were in for, and the ones on the way home were very subdued.

After a couple of computer miss-fires and with help from computer virtuoso Bob Cantrell, Leslie was able to show the group a slide show of a few of her experiences while working.

One particularly interesting and touching moment was when Leslie mentioned that she visited a hospital for the wounded – and what an amazing experience that was.

Thank you Leslie for helping us to remember the Troops on this Memorial Day!

As usual, Initiation Master Geoff Hopper carefully prepared his remarks for today’s ceremony. New Member Initiate Larry DiAngelo’s insurance business is such a treasure trove of fascinating stories, Geoff was unable to choose one to relay – SO, we went ahead and performed the secret ceremony in the expectation that many amazing insurance adventures will follow.

Regarding the Rick Miller incident last week – NO FINE due to the arrival of the paramedics – BUT $5 for the arrival of a new granddaughter!

$5 for Tony Crowder’s birthday – DINNER AT THE ROYAL OAK! ALL ARE INVITED!

It will cost Jill $5 for her anniversary on Monday.

$5 fine to Rory for using poor Kate Scorziel to pitch his case to the Legislature.

A few Rotarians in the news:

Armand with the Indians (?)

Geno and Butch at the Water Board presenting the case for NOT instituting a building moratorium.

EVER vigilant on highway concerns, Duane made note of the new barriers on Highway 18.

Duane offered a brief remembrance of the Mountain in 1962, with a trip through the Village – and meeting a young Ross Johnstone, the Gay 90s bar, the Pancake House that opened at 2am when the bars closed, and a great remembrance of the “Swing’n Gym.”

Armand hustled the Rotary Moment into a discussion of the Cheerleaders in the room today – that are really actors and sometimes share the stage with our shameless president. Guest Megan described a bit of their backgrounds as actresses, and each gave us a short bio – it didn’t seem that any started out to be in showbis, but all enjoy being there.

Armand was quick to point out that the girls are currently on stage at the Repertory Theater, and somehow manage to do all of their costume changes on the stage. Including the cheerleader outfits. Everyone was excited to attend until we found out Armand ALSO changes his costumes while on stage.

Cheryl Moxley introduced each of our distinguished Indian Guests, who provided today’s program.

First on their list was the presentation of a banner to Armand and to Cheryl and the wish to “End Polio.” Jack Winston took the opportunity to present a Polio+ pin to Joe Ramos, along with Jim Johnstone.

The team presented a great PowerPoint of their local club, and a number of projects they had been involved in their country. They also discussed their incredible fund raising ability with their gifts to the Rotary Foundation, and their many grants and projects.

Armand presented them with our Club Banner, and set up a photo op!

Rudy added that he has been working with or special guests to do a SKYPE connection between a school classroom here and one there.

Armand called Monica Pepp and Sheila Link to the front. Initiation Meister Geoff Hopper reviewed the new members – Almost everyone has known Monica for years, as she has been here 29 of them. Monica works at the Villager, and is a local Real Estate agent. ALSO, Monica is noted for her (past) position as Channel 6 Mountain Singing(!) News Anchor!

New recruit Shelia Link has been in the mountains for 16 years by way of Maine. Sheila owns and operates a local catering business.

As Geoff was wrapping up, and preparing himself for the ceremony, Resort General Manager and Lighting Monitor Norm Santos slowly and seductively dimmed the room lights. Geoff performed the secret ceremony to a long round of applause!

Cheryl Moxley reported on her trip to India – and how she got started on it in the first place. Her thought is that we live in an ever-shrinking world, and we need to be very aware of the global nature that society is turning into.

At first, Cheryl thought that she would be going on a ship to deliver computers and sewing machines to Africa – but the trip ended up going to India by airplane. While there the schedule was a whirlwind with 12 meetings in 19 days. Cheryl that the clubs there are predominately men, with ladies having separate clubs.

They evidently have a ceremony including a gold shroud for visitors – which Cheryl qualified as at least 6 times.

One project Rotary is involved in there is the construction of restrooms – that have private space for the girls. It seems that due to the public nature of restrooms in India, many girls stop going to school when they reach puberty – so this is a very important project. Cheryl also said that the plan in India is for universal literacy by 2018 – and Rotary has a big part in the project, and she was delighted to be a part of it!

Eagle Scout candidate Liam Gavigon presented his Eagle Scout project to the group. Liam plans a very ambitious project to create a Veteran’s Memorial on donated space in the Arrowhead Ridge preserve. It will include 5 flag poles, seating and be a place of reflection. Liam estimates the cost at $28,000 and he is hoping that our group will make a donation toward the project. QUITE AN UNDERTAKING!!!

Davis Hopper took center stage to initiate Denise Amante as our newest member! Davis (who from this day forward will wonder what happened to his mail) tried hard to embarrass Denise, but she joined anyway! WELCOME DENISE!

Joy Hatch, Director of the Mountain Fifes and Drum Corps reported on their group:

The program is for kids 10 to 18 years old. The goal is to teach music, history , leadership and responsibility to their members. They start them off with a requirement to memorize 6 songs, and then as they learn more, the kids advance through the ranks. If they are in the program for the full 8 years, they could end up learning as many as 300 songs!

They program is 100% volunteers, all of the uniforms are handmade locally, and they are excited to travel to such spots as Williamsburg to show off their talents.

Joy reports that the Fife and Drum Corps that existed during the Revolutionary War were all non-combatants – and were used primarily to help with communication on the battlefield.

Today’s Rotary Moment was a very long moment with the RYLArians – who all came to the front, along with Rotarian sponsors for a review of the 2014 RYLA presentation.

This year there were enough attendees to have the program over two weekends, with more than 500 kids attending between the two sessions. It turns out that our program is the largest in the world!

Rudy played a short video of the camp which featured Karyn along with a number of shots of RYLA activities. The RYLA kids were each asked to make a short speech about their experience at the camp.

A few things mentioned: Everyone mentioned the icebreaker sessions – and how it taught them how to come out of their shell. Also, every one enjoyed the amazing effort of packing THOUSANDS of meals for hungry people in the Philippines.

A few parents also offered comments regarding changes they have seen in their kids, highlighted by April Sinclair about granddaughter Morgan – “Morgan went to please her grandfather, but ended up not wanting to leave! What an amazing change!”

Our new member, Kent Warner is, unfortunately, an attorney. AS SUCH, New Member Initiator Geoff Hopper spent most of the time praising Kent for his choice of profession. Usually, we get some dirt, but this time it seemed more like collaboration.

We all look forward to having Kent as a new member, and possible adversary to our current mouthpiece.

Bill Stanley did an impromptu comedy act on the 4-Way Speech Contest. He attempted to describe the 4-Way Test in comedy in comedic terms, and was doing a fine job until he got to the world’s worst joke:

“What do you call a living kamikaze pilot?” Chicken Teriyaki. PULEASE!

Today we had the opportunity to induct Norm Santos as a new member! Rudy and Karyn are sponsors of Norm, and while Rudy did his best to embarrass Norm, it turns out he made him look like he might be too good to join our group. We are fortunate that he decided to join anyway, even after being wooed by the Noon club. WELCOME NORM!

First , Polly thanked Pat Brennan for all that he is doing for the rebuilding project – her father was in a wheelchair, and she recognized how important it is to be able to function in one.

What’s up in Lake Arrowhead? The Chamber has a new mission statement – to make the whole mountain a destination resort, not just Lake Arrowhead. There are lots of great attractions here, new businesses in Sky Forest – and there will be a “Spring Fling” in Sky Forest on May 25 this year. They will be trying to feature each community on the mountain with an activity over the next year.

A few more points:

· There is a new business showroom in the Chamber office – come and participate!

· They are working on a new visitor’s center.

· Their goal is to bring all of the incoming dollars back to the community in benefits.

· They are actively recruiting more community members.

Polly had a “proof-reading contest for a community membership – and of course our professional editor MJ Lanyon won in a walk!

Polly also held a drawing to give away an e-blast – which were won by Thacker, Mike Rose, Barb Petersen, Don Latka and Bob Moseby – which were all re-donated back to the club to promote our auction.

Polly said they have a focus on the Non-Profits – we can work the visitor center as host to promote or causes if we wish, also. While we as a club only have one vote, everyone is welcome to participate in chamber events and benefits!

As a tax prep professional, Jamie discussed a few of the ins and outs of IRS rules regarding foreclosures and short sales – which can present serious tax problems, as in the forgiven debt can be considered income. Between the two, Jamie favors the short sale a s the referred way to go if possible.

Jamie also had some cheery news regarding audits – that are apparently on the rise – When haven’t they been? Jamie reports that the IRS is running at up to a 6 month backlog on responses – and that they are able to help about 65% of telephone queries. Always remember that you are responsible for every entry on your tax forms – even if your accountant prepares them.

A few other areas of focus: Auto deductions, donations, interest and dividends. Make sure they all balance! And don’t shirk on your quarterly estimates – failure her can cause real problems. Jamie also reminded us that most government agencies talk to each other – so don’t be surprised if the IRS deducts an unpaid traffic ticket from your refund.

New member initiation: Darrell Lowe, after enjoying free breakfast for most of the new year, was thoroughly embarrassed by New Member Initiator Geoff Hopper. At first, it seemed that Darrell's background was in some altruistic pursuits, but it turns out he was a mortgage banker. Oh, well. Mortgage banker or not, we're delighted to have Darrell as a member - and start paying for breakfast. Welcome!!!

The Million Meals program was a raging success – providing an amazing 1,170,000 meals!!! So far this year, they have been able to put together another 660,000, so the program is going very well.

Barry would like to find a way to provide more help to the Coachella Valley, and they are working on a way to make that happen.

Operation Provider is doing well also, providing 100,000 meals through Second Harvest. As it turns out, Second Harvest needs help – and Barry is proposing yto do a food drive over the Easter holiday on Friday and Saturday at Jensen’s and maybe Goodwins. He suggested that we ask the Interact to help as they did so well on the program last time.

BRING PEANUT BUTTER to next week’s meeting! It’s a great source of protein, and Barry will take it to Second Harvest for distribution.

ALSO, Polio Plus is still in need of funds to help – and there have been a number of cases that need our attention. If you are able, a special gift to Polio Plus would go a long way!

This performance was, without question, one of the most amazing performances before a Rotary Club ever! Soloist Morgan Sinclair, Granddaughter of John and April Sinclair, performed an opera song (I wish I could recall the name of the piece) that brought tears to the Secretary’s eyes. Her ability is stunning, and a long standing ovation from the group told the tale! If Morgan returns to sing for us, we MUST have a bouquet of 2 dozen roses to present to her!

As an aside, Morgan performed at the Music Competition last night – and won second place. There was a brief discussion amongst the group as to the prize money that is offered at the contest. The group asked that the Board consider raising the prize money substantially – for the next Board agenda.

After warming up the crowd with a couple of jokes, John spent some time describing the mission of the LACSD – basically, the LACSD is a government organization that is chartered to provide water and septic services for our local communities.

As a member of the local Board, John is responsible for helping to direct the operations of the organization, and to work with the public as their elected representative to the agency.

John spent some time describing the activities of the Board, and problems that face the agency for the future, specifically, water availability, system repairs and upgrades and expenses. It turns out that the agency and users face about $30million in capital expenditures over the next decade or so, some as a result of mandates, and some resulting from wear and tear on the system.

John spent some time discussing the operations of the agency, as well as employee and union relations. He did mention that they find that they are in need of a number of entry level employees – and described it as a great job, with great benefits!

The Boys and Girls Club has been a huge provider of services, meals, and other forms of help for kids on the mountain for many =years. At the Lake Gregory location, they see up to 90 kids every afternoon for play, help with homework, activities and supervision. In total, they work with 200 kids on any given day.

The program was founded in 1995 at VOE and Lake Arrowhead Elementary. The location in Crestline is a bus stop, and they make sure many kids get on the bus every day, and take care of them when they come back in the afternoon.

They charge only $20 per year for the program, $25 for a family as the program has been funded through a series of grants and donations. This year, however, one of the major grants was lost, so they have to tighten the operation to make up for the lost funding, and they have had to increase fees to $15 a week for the program. The hope is that the funding will return next year.

Steve feels that they have a great effect on the kids – he has actually been doing it long enough to see parents that were in the program when they were in school!

30% of the budget comes from fundraising; they have 2 golf tournaments, and their annual auction. This year, the auction will be held on May 10.

Sharon is a GREAT spokesperson for our local ballet company! She passed around their very professional brochure, which is their best promotional material. Sharon reported that they have done the Nutcracker for 20 years – and it keeps doing well, especially since they have started performing over the Thanksgiving holiday. The production is huge – there are 120 parts in the program!

The cost of the company is about $48 - $50,000 per year and they pride themselves on the financial efficiency they have worked out.